HOW THE YANKEES GOT THINGS ROLLING IN THE MOTOR CITY

Following a nail-biting 6-5 win over the Angels in Anaheim, the Yankees headed back east to Detroit to finish off their nine-game road trip against the Tigers. Thanks to strong pitching by CC Sabathia, and some timely hitting by the offense, the Yanks won the opener of this three game set 9-4.

The Yankees faced a starter they’ve never seen before (Oh no!) in Casey Crosby, but they were able to hit him early and often to earn the win. Crosby walked four of the first six guys he faced in the second inning (Cano, Swisher, Jayson Nix, Jeter), resulting in a run, before Curtis Granderson hit a two-out Grand slam to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead. The rest of the offense came from a Chris Stewart RBI single in the fourth, an Andruw Jones RBI double in the eighth, and an Alex Rodriguez two-run home run in the ninth to give the Yanks their ninth and final run of the game. Crosby, by the way, went 3.1 and allowed six runs. Nice to see the Yanks rough up a pitcher they’ve never seen before.

Sabathia started this one and he picked up his sixth win, giving him a 7-2 record on the year. He struggled early by allowing three runs in the first three innings on 71 pitches, but in his final four frames of work he needed only 42 pitches to finish off his evening. In total, the big man went 7 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs, five strikeouts, and two walks. Cody Eppley, Boone Logan, Cory Wade, Clay Rapada, and Rafael Soriano (save) combined to pick up the final six outs.

Final was 9-4, Yankees. Hiroki Kuroda (4-6, 3.96 ERA) will square off against Rick Porcello (3-4, 5.21 ERA) in the middle game of this three-game set and it’ll be aired on FOX at 7:15 EST.


--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse

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