The New York Yankees were unable to deliver the big hit as they drop the game and the series to the Detroit Tigers on a very long day in the Bronx.
- New York Yankees 0 (57-49)
- Detroit Tigers 2 (49-57)
- W: Jordan Zimmerman (7-8, 5.35 ERA)
- L: Masahiro Tanaka(8-10, 4.93 ERA)
- AL, Final, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Despite a rare quality start for Masahiro Tanaka during a day game, the New York Yankees offense continued to come up short in the big moments as they lost the game and series to the Detroit Tigers on an afternoon that saw 277 minutes worth of rain delays.
The game started out with an 86-minute rain delay, only to see Tanaka give up an early lead from which the Yankee offense could never recover. Even the second delay that lasted over three hours could not help the Bombers find their stroke at the plate.
V-Mart became the ninth active player to hit 400 career doubles, joining his teammate @MiguelCabrera. pic.twitter.com/IfA9yzvXxR
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 3, 2017
The @gladproducts tarp is back on the field. We'll keep you posted on any updates. pic.twitter.com/o6L5xTytkE
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 2, 2017
Tough-Luck Tanaka
It’s well documented that Tanaka has his share of struggles in day games, sporting a 14.81 ERA during his afternoon starts. That trend continued for Tanaka this afternoon as the righty put his team behind in the very first inning.
Tanaka started off the game by serving up back-to-back singles to Ian Kinsler and Jim Adduci. The next batter Justin Upton drilled a ground ball double to left that scored Kinsler from second to give the Tigers a very early one run lead.
Although the second Tigers run was not charged to Tanaka, the Yanks early offensive struggles made that run feel a lot larger than it should have been.
In the top of the fourth, Tanaka allowed a two out walk to Mikie Mahtook. The next batter James McCann smacked a single up the middle of the diamond and into centerfield. Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury mishandled the grounder, allowing Mahtook to score all the way from first base to make it a 2-0 ball game.
Reaching the 100 pitch mark to end the sixth, Tanaka’s day was done to begin the seventh. Tanaka was replaced by Tommy Cahnle, departing with a final line of 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R(1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K.
9 pitches, 9 strikes. That's efficient. ??#Immaculate pic.twitter.com/J5NhG7pU3c
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 3, 2017
Thunder In the Sky, and On the Mound
Before the start of the eighth inning, the skies opened up and forced the game into a 3-hour, 11-minute minute delay.
When baseball finally resumed, Dellin Betances made sure to reward the fans that had stuck out the lengthy delay by recording the sixth Immaculate Inning in Yankees history. On nine pitches, Betances retired Adduce, Justin Upton and Miguel Cabrera. The last Yankee to accomplish the feat was Brandon McCarthy in 2014.
After the historic inning, the offensive futility continued for the Yanks as they got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with no outs and still couldn’t deliver. It marked the fourth inning(third, fifth, sixth, eighth) that the Yankees failed to score after having brought the tying or go ahead run to the plate with no outs.
The Yankees were unable to push anything across in the ninth and fell to the Tigers 2-0. The loss puts New York a full game back of Boston in the AL East, with the Red Sox set to finalize their series with the Cleveland Indians.
Still waiting for word on game start…But! We did catch Nicholas Castellanos in the dugout. He told us his fave Beyonce album. ??⚾️? pic.twitter.com/uGZwd5CIs4
— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) August 2, 2017
Impressive stuff from @JZimmermann27 after seven innings. pic.twitter.com/AUkIGoxPrB
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 2, 2017
V-Mart collects his 400th career double in the 6th inning! pic.twitter.com/gmN10XjaRt
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 2, 2017
What’s Next?
The Pinstripers will try to put this series in the rear-view as they head off to Cleveland for their upcoming four-game set with the Indians.
Making his much anticipated Yankees debut, Sonny Gray (6-5, 3.43 ERA) takes the ball in hopes of justifying the landmark trade that brought him to the Bronx. The Indians send their ace and former Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (8-3, 2.90 ERA) to the mound, hoping to silence the Yankee offense and continue their trend of offensive ineptitude. First pitch at Progressive Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET and can be seen on the YES Network and heard on WFAN 660/101.9 FM.
