Juan

The rain didn’t let up at Yankee Stadium.

From start to finish, the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees played Sunday’s game in a steady slump. Batters toweled off their bats, pitchers wiped their throwing hands on their pants and the grounds crew poured bags of absorbent dirt in an effort to keep the field playable.

The Tigers lost the battle in the rain to the Yankees, 5-2, in the final round of the three-game sweep in the Bronx on Sunday. Left-hander Tarik Skubal, the Tigers’ ace who has a 1.90 ERA in seven starts, allowed two runs on six hits and no walks with 12 strikeouts in six innings, throwing 96 pitches.

The umpires stopped the game before the bottom of the eighth inning, at 4:18 pm, with the game officially called about an hour later.

“The field became more unpredictable,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch told reporters in New York. “It had to be really dangerous. The boys could not run fast. There were puddles everywhere. We tried. Everyone tried. The grounds crew were amazing. Alan Porter, the team leader, was very good with how he communicated with everything. our best to bring the game in, but enough was enough in the end.

The twelve strikeouts were a career high for Skubal, in the 82nd game of his MLB career. The fourth-year starter became the youngest Tiger (at 27 years and 167 days) to record 12 strikeouts in a game since Max Scherzer (at 25 years, 307 days) on May 30, 2010, when he had 14 strikeouts against the Oakland Athletics.

The Tigers (18-16) tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, but the Yankees immediately took the lead in the bottom of the inning against right-hander Shelby Miller and reliever left Andrew Chafin, scoring three runs for a 5-2 advantage.

“There was no pitcher that felt normal,” Hinch said. “That was just the way it was going to be. You could see Shelby trying to wipe things off her hand and go to a bag of rosin that was already soaked and wet, but that’s the way it is. We knew the conditions from the start of the game. It was raining from the start of the game.”

Miller loaded the bases with one out thanks to two walks and a single, putting Chafin in a difficult situation. Juan Soto, acquired by the Yankees in an offseason trade from the San Diego Padres, hit Chafin’s down-and-in sinker for a three-run double to right field, making it 5-2.

All three runs were charged to Miller.

The sweep of the Tigers opens a six-game road trip, which ends with three games, from Monday to Wednesday, against the Cleveland Guardians – who are currently in first place in the American League Central – at Progressive Field.

Skubal strikes out 12

The Yankees were lucky to get to Skubal in the first two innings.

Aaron Judge — the 2022 AL MVP — ripped a 97 mph four-seam fastball for a solo home run to right-center field with two outs in the first inning, making it 1-0. The Yankees extended their lead to 2-0 with two outs in the second inning, when Oswaldo Cabrera hit a ground-rule double off Skubal’s hanging slider after singles by Gleyber Torres and Jon Berti.

After that, Skubal was dirty for the rest of his start.

“There were so many reasons to be frustrated,” Hinch said, “and even though he was a little frustrated early on, he didn’t give up. … That’s why we love it. he gets the ball.”

All 12 strikeouts: Giancarlo Stanton (swing strike, changeup) in first inning, Jose Trevino (swing strike, changeup) in second, Soto (called strike, sinker), Judge (swing strike, sinker) and Stanton (swing strike, changeup) in the third, Alex Verdugo (swing strike, changeup) and Berti (swing strike, changeup) in the fourth, Anthony Volpe (swing strike, sinker) and Soto (swing strike, changeup) in the fifth and Stanton (swing strike, changeup), Verdugo (swing strike, changeup) and Torres (swing strike, fastball) in the sixth.

Skubal struck out the side in the third and sixth innings.

In the sixth inning, Judge smoked Skubal’s sinker in the bottom of the strike zone for a leadoff double, but Skubal responded with three strikeouts in a row to complete his seventh start of the season.

After the third out, Skubal screamed in celebration before stressing out to Judge as he walked back to the mound. Skubal and Judge shared a smile, a sign of respect between two great players. Judge finished 2-for-3 against Skubal, while the other eight Yankees combined to go 3-for-21.

Seven of Skubal’s 12 strikeouts were produced by his changeup.

His changeup recorded 12 whiffs on 17 swings by the Yankees.

Skubal dominated with that off-speed pitch, throwing 32 changeups (33%), 28 sinkers (29.2%), 21 four-seam fastballs (21.9%), 12 sliders (12.5%) and three balls curved (3.1%). He produced 18 whiffs on 45 swings – a 40% whiff rate – with 12 turnovers, three sinkers and three fastballs.

Lack of slow-to-start

The Tigers tied the game, 2-2, in the seventh inning, finally getting to left-hander Nestor Cortes.

Spencer Torkelson ripped two outs in the second inning for the Tigers’ first hit. The Tigers didn’t get their second hit until Mark Canha’s single in the seventh.

The single from Canha started a two-run inning.

A walk-off single from Jake Rogers chased Cortes from his start, replaced by right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton. Torkelson pulled Hamilton’s two-strike slider down the third line and into left field for his second double of the game, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 2-1. Javier Báez followed up Colt Keith’s walk by beating into a double play, and when that happened, Rogers got to third base to tie the game, 2-2.

Two runners were stranded in the seventh when left-handed hitter Kerry Carpenter, pinch-hitting for fellow left-hander Parker Meadows, struck out against left-handed reliever Victor González.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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