NEW YORK — Welcome back to Yankee Stadium, Gleyber Torres.
Yankees fans gave Torres a tremendous ovation on Tuesday, Sept.10 – an appreciation for what Torres did for seven years for the Yankees. “It’s hard to come into this building and get cheered by the fans here from the other side,” Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said late Tuesday. “So it was a good moment for him. Hopefully, it creates a comfortable environment for him the next couple games to play.”
Well, consider him comfortable.
Actually, the entire team looked comfortable.
Torres knocked in three runs on Wednesday to give the Tigers a lead. Then, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith put the cherry on top, all hitting 2-run homers to, eventually, lift the Tigers to an 11-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers (84-62) won their second straight game against the Yankees and won the season series for the first time since 2011. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Guardians, 4-3, giving the Tigers have a 9½-game lead in the American League Central over the Guardians with 16 games to play, with a magic number of eight to clinch their first Central crown since 2014.
The Tigers will go for the series sweep over the Yankees on Thursday, Sept. 11 (7:05 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).
That’s the fact, Jack
Jack Flaherty, who started for the Tigers, has had a strange streak of on-again, off-again performances. In his previous five starts, he alternated between either being really good or really bad.
Aug. 12, against Chicago White Sox: Bad (4⅓ innings, eight hits, five earned runs).
Aug. 18, against Houston Astros: Good (seven innings, three hits, no earned runs).
Aug. 24, against Royals: Bad (five innings, 10 hits, eight runs).
Aug 30, against Royals: Good (5⅔ innings, four hits, one earned runs).
Sept. 5, against White Sox: Bad (4⅓ innings, six hits, four earned runs).
By that pattern, he was lined up to be good again – and that’s exactly what he was.
Flaherty’s only real blemish was his pitch count. He passed 80 pitches in the fourth inning. But he got the fist-bump from Hinch, not the game-ending handshake.
So he went out for the fifth inning and struck out the side, ending his day with seven strikeouts while allowing just two hits, a walk and no runs.
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Torres to the rescue
Early in the game, the Tigers could do little against Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón, who was making his 30th start of the season. Rodon came into the game with a career-high 16 wins, tied with teammate Max Fried and Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta for the MLB lead. In his previous 10 starts, he had gone 7-1, allowing two earned runs or fewer in eight of those starts.
So, there was little surprise that the Tigers struggled to get going against him. But they had a tremendous opportunity in the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out. After Rodón struck out Jahmai Jones, it all came down to Torres, who worked the count full. Torres then pounded a ball into center for a single to drive in a pair of runs, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
It was another example of the Tigers stringing together several good, productive at bats and getting rewarded for it.
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Bullpen decides it
After the starting pitchers departed, it was decided by the bullpens.
The Yankees’ bullpen completely fell apart, as four pitchers gave up nine runs before they turned to position player Austin Slater.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ bullpen did its job. Tyler Holton pitched a scoreless inning. Troy Melton pitched two innings, allowing just one run (on a home run by catcher Austin Wells). And Brenan Hanifee pitched a scoreless ninth.
Even more significantly, the Tigers’ back-end relievers will be well rested for Thursday’s series finale.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers tee off on NY Yankees bullpen for 2nd straight night, 11-1
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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