Just like Gary Sanchez did to his first-inning moon shot, the New York Yankees put on a power display in their rout of the Tigers.
- New York Yankees: 13 (67-57)
- Detroit Tigers: 4 (54-70)
- American League, FINAL, Box Score
- Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
Sometimes you just don’t have it. Clearly, Detroit Tigers’ starter Matthew Boyd was having one of those days as the New York Yankees‘ racked up seven runs off the lefty en route to a dominant 13-4 win in front of a crowd of 27,818 at Comerica Park.
Masahiro Tanaka was looking for his first win against the Tigers and thankfully, he got the run support to do so. Gary Sanchez put the Yankees on the board before he even took the mound with a 493-foot moonshot to left field. That jump-started what would be a three-run first inning for New York.
After not scoring in the second, a four-run third inning, influenced in large part by a two-run triple by Todd Frazier, seemingly put the game out of reach by a score of 7-0. Boyd would exit the contest with seven earned runs on seven hits including three walks over 2.1 innings of work.
On the other side, Tanaka was close to lights out. The 28-year-old racked up four strikeouts and three earned runs over seven innings. His day actually was going much better before Nick Castellanos took him the other way for a two-run home run in the seventh, but it was nonetheless a solid outing after being on the disabled list for right shoulder inflammation.
The story of the day, however, was easily the offensive production. The Bombers totaled 16 hits including three home runs, two triples, a double and five walks. The second home run came courtesy of Aaron Hicks in the seventh, the third came on another by Sanchez and Frazier’s 3-for-5 day with two RBI’s brought him one double away from the cycle, but he’ll have to settle for a huge series-opening win on the road.
Kraken Unleashed:
Sanchez’s two-run bomb in the second inning measured at 493 feet, which is impressive in two ways. One, it marks the second-longest home run of the 2017 season. Of course, only Aaron Judge‘s 495-foot home run hit on June 11 traveled farther. Two, the 24-year-old’s 24th homer of the year set the record for the longest home run in Comerica Park since Statcast began keeping track of distances.
His home run in the seventh also brought his career-total to 45, tying him with Mark McGwire for the second-most home runs in a player’s first 146 career games. He now trails Rudy York, who owns the record with 46 home runs to start his career.
“The Streak” Ends:
When Jacoby Ellsbury subbed in for Aaron Judge in the seventh as a pinch-hitter, the rookie slugger’s 37-game strikeout streak came to an end. His 1-for-1 day with two walks marked the first time since July 7 that Judge did not strike out in a contest. Safe to say he won’t be upset that streak is over.
Road Warrior:
Didi Gregorius now has multiple hits in 11 of his last 19 road games, going 32-for-76 (.421) with 11 runs scored, eight doubles, four home runs, eight RBI’s, six walks and just five strikeouts. That marks the most multi-hit games on the road since Jacoby Ellsbury racked up 24 in 2016.
What’s Next:
The Yankees and Tigers will go at it again on Wednesday night at Comerica Park. New York will send out Luis Severino looking to win the series while Detroit counters with Jordan Zimmerman.
Severino is coming off his 10th win of the season on Thursday at Citi Field against the Mets where he fanned nine over 6.1 innings of one-run (unearned) work. That marked the sixth time in seven starts since the All-Star break that the 23-year-old allowed one run-or-fewer. He has also won five of his last six starts and is the only pitcher in the American League this season to win four straight starts while allowing one run-or-fewer in each.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET and can be caught on WPIX or on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9 FM.