Lynn's struggles continue as Yanks fall to Tigers, 11-7

A very disappointing home stand ended Sunday as the Yankees fell to the Tigers, 11-7, to split their four-game series with Detroit. The Yankees were presented with a golden opportunity to make up more ground on Boston this week, but instead went 3-4 against the lowly White Sox and Tigers. Heading into the next week, the Yanks will either be seven or eight games back of Boston in the loss column.

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Lance Lynn was on the mound for New York, and his recent struggles continued. After allowing six runs over 3.2 innings Sunday, the big right-hander has now given up 19 runs in his last 18.2 innings of work (9.40 ERA). On a day where Detroit scored 11 runs on 17 hits, they were paced by their best hitter (Nicholas Castellanos) and arguably their worst hitter (Victor Reyes). Castellanos went 3-5 with a double and two RBI, but the big story here was Reyes. Reyes, a 23-year-old rule five draft pick, entered the day with a paltry .480 OPS, but after going 4-5 with two doubles and his first career home run, the young outfielder is now up to .539. It was a breakout afternoon for a player the Tigers have high hopes for.

In relief, the Yankees got four solid innings from Sonny Gray. After allowing just one run today, Gray’s season ERA dropped under five (4.96) for the first time since June 23rd. In five appearances out of the bullpen this year, Gray has permitted three runs over 13.1 innings of work (2.06 ERA). It will be very interesting to see if the Yankees decide to go back to Gray in the rotation given the way Lynn has struggled. Gray was followed by left-hander Stephen Tarpley. Tarpley was making his MLB debut, and it couldn’t have gone worse. The 25-year-old had a 1.94 ERA this year in the minors, but allowed three runs in the top of the ninth to the bottom of Detroit’s lineup. In search of a second left-handed reliever while Aroldis Chapman is out, Tarpley has a chance to play a role down the stretch if he puts it together.

Offensively, the Bombers got off to a great start in the first as Aaron Hicks led off with a solo home run and Gary Sanchez picked up his first hit and RBI since returning on Saturday. Three innings later, Luke Voit sent a solo home run into right field for his fifth home run in 51 at-bats as a Yankees. Voit went 2-5 on the day and has his season batting average at .306. 

Trailing 8-3 in the eighth, the Yankees put a rally together. Miguel Andujar drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single to make it 8-4. Andujar went 3-4 on the day to continue his torrid second-half. Two hitters later, Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases and bring up Luke Voit as the tying run. After Voit struck out, pinch-hitter Neil Walker delivered an RBI single to make it 8-5 and bring up the much-maligned Greg Bird in a huge spot. Bird, serving as a pinch-hitter, had a chance to redeem himself and give the Yanks the lead with one swing, but instead he drove a ball to the warning track to end the threat. Bird can’t seem to do anything right currently. Gleyber Torres drove in two more runs in the ninth to make it an 11-7 final score in a game that was really annoying to say the least.

What’s Next?

The Yankees head out West for a critical six-game West Coast trip starting on Monday in Oakland. The Yankees, with today’s loss, lead the A’s by five games for the top Wild Card spot. New York has three games with the red-hot Athletics, and game one is Monday at 4:05pm on YES and ESPN. The probable starting pitchers for that key Labor Day clash are CC Sabathia (7-5, 3.36 ERA) for the Yankees and Trevor Cahill (5-3, 3.60 ERA) for the Athletics.

Recap by: Jake Graziano

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