The New York Yankees’ three-game series against Detroit will come with a twist.
The first two games will be played in the Motor City, but they’ll head to Williamsport, Pa., for the “MLB Little League Classic” on Sunday night.
The Yankees got a day off Thursday. After an embarrassing 12-2 loss to the downtrodden Chicago White Sox, New York took the last two games of that series.
After a 4-1 win on Tuesday, the Yankees rolled to a 10-2 victory on Wednesday. Aaron Judge reached a career milestone, slugging his 300th homer in his 955th game.
That’s easily a major league record. Ralph Kiner held the previous mark with 300 home runs in 1,087 games.
“It’s a great achievement,” Judge said. “I’ve been in the game a little while now, I guess. We’ve still got a long way to go. I was hoping it would come in a win.”
The Yankees made sure of that by scoring nine combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Judge is aiming for a Triple Crown this season, entering the Tigers series with 43 homers, 110 RBIs and a .333 average.
“What Aaron is doing is among a select few in the history of the game,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You start talking about these kinds of seasons he’s having; he’s a great player, great leader, and I think everyone’s really pumped in there that he got it done.”
Gerrit Cole will pitch the series opener for the Yankees on Friday night. Cole (3-2, 4.70 ERA) struck out a season-high 10 batters in his last outing, against the Texas Rangers on Saturday. He gave up one run and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
He’ll be making his 10th start of the season. He has been dominant against the Tigers during his career, posting a 9-1 record and 1.99 ERA in 13 starts.
For the third consecutive game, the Tigers will rely on their bullpen to get through nine innings. They have won four straight, including a three-game home sweep of the Seattle Mariners.
They routed the Mariners 15-1 in the series opener, then rallied for 3-2 and 2-1 victories in the past two games. Javier Baez blasted a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning off Mariners closer Andres Munoz in a win Thursday. Baez’s sixth homer was the first hit Munoz had allowed since July 4.
Detroit has moved within four games of the .500 mark. The Tigers haven’t finished at or above .500 since the 2016 season.
“I like this team. We’ve got a lot to do to be better,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve got a lot of room to grow. We’re going to get younger, but we’re also going to get better. And we continue to fight because we know we can play complete games.
“We’re not always going to be perfect, and it’s not always graceful but these guys care,” Hinch added. “We’re not just playing out the season because the schedule says it. I appreciate it as a manager, and I know our coaching staff does.”
–Field Level Media