It was a bad ending to a terrific start.
Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize generated an abundance of whiffs with his high-velocity fastball and wicked splitter in one of his best starts of an outstanding 2026 season, exemplified by a 2.95 ERA in 11 starts.
What went wrong?
The 29-year-old surrendered three runs during a sixth inning that ended early for him in the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday, June 23 – the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park – snapping the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
Mize allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 97 pitches. When healthy, he continues to pitch like a frontline starter.
Right fielder Ben Malgeri made his MLB debut for the Tigers, called up from Triple-A Toledo.
He swung at the first pitch he saw.
And he drove that first-pitch 95.1 mph fastball from left-hander Carlos Rodón into right field for a single, marking the second of three hits in a two-run third inning. (He also singled off left-handed reliever Brent Headrick in the seventh inning.)
Malgeri finished 2-for-3 in the first game of his MLB career, while Jahmai Jones – a fellow right-handed hitter who is supposed to crush left-handed pitching – finished 0-for-2 in the 194th game of his MLB career.
On the mound
The Yankees tested Mize with at least one baserunner in five of his six innings.
Mize passed almost every test.
In the first, he left runners on the corners with Paul Goldschmidt’s flyout and Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s groundout. In the third, he stranded a runner on third with Ben Rice’s flyout, Jasson Domínguez’s strikeout and Cody Bellinger’s strikeout. In the fourth, he allowed one run on a groundout after back-to-back singles, but he stranded a runner on second with Austin Wells’ groundout. In the fifth, he worked around a leadoff single with Rice’s strikeout and Domíguez’s groundout – plus catcher Dillon Dingler throwing out Anthony Volpe trying to steal second base.
Those were many of the positives.
The fourth-inning run trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 2-1, but the notable negative for Mize didn’t occur until the sixth inning, when he allowed three runs.
In that frame, Goldschmidt hit a dribbler back to Mize and beat out the throw for an infield single – an impressive feat for a 38-year-old in his 16th MLB season. After that, Chisholm crushed Mize’s middle-down slider in a full count for a two-run home run.
The slider stayed down.
But it hovered over the middle of the plate.
And Chisholm didn’t miss.
The Tigers replaced Mize with two outs in the sixth inning, calling on left-handed reliever Tyler Holton. The inherited runner scored on Wells’ double off Holton’s first-pitch sinker, with the run charged to Mize’s tab.
Just like that, the scoreboard flipped to a 4-2 lead for the Yankees.
At the plate
The Tigers scored two runs in the third inning and one run in the sixth inning.
For the Yankees, Rodón surrendered three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts across 5⅓ innings, throwing 87 pitches. He has a 3.70 ERA in eight starts.
In the third, singles from Zach McKinstry and Malgeri set the table for the top of the lineup – only for McKinstry to score on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Dillon Dingler delivered an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
It was his 34th RBI with two outs.
In the sixth, the Tigers pulled within one run for a 4-3 deficit with back-to-back doubles from Dillon Dingler and Matt Vierling with no outs, but ensuing outs from Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith stranded two runners.
The biggest play came in the fourth inning.
Greene drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base, then with two outs, third-base coach Joey Cora sent him home on Hao-Yu Lee’s single to left field.
In left field, Bellinger fielded up the ball and threw a strike for an inning-ending out at home plate.
It wasn’t even close.
Greene was just past halfway between second base and third base by the time Bellinger picked up the ball. The only hope for the Tigers was an inaccurate throw, but Bellinger delivered a strong throw to the plate for Wells, who applied the tag.
Next up
The Tigers and Yankees meet Wednesday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) for the finale of the three-game series, but it’s only the third of six games between the two teams in a 10-game stretch.
From June 29-July 1, the Tigers will clash with the Yankees in another three-game series, though at Yankee Stadium.
The probable pitchers Wednesday: Left-hander Tarik Skubal (and his 3.02 ERA in nine starts) for the Tigers and left-hander Ryan Weathers (and his 4.13 ERA in 14 starts) for the Yankees.
It will be Skubal’s third start since returning from the injured list.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers fall to Yankees in close game, ending winning streak
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
