CLOSE DOESN'T CUT IT YANKS... TURN IT AROUND

It was a tough night for the Yankees, having come so close to a dramatic come-from-behind win, but it was just short of a win. They dropped their second straight game to the Tigers. They have now lost six of their last nine, and they're trying to dig out of a slide that has their record at 6-12 since their West Coast trip. Clearly, the team is better than this, and they are showing some real signs of coming out of it, but they have to start getting it together before the rest of the division gets any closer.

The night was especially frustrating for Phil Hughes, as he started out looking very strong. However, foul balls in the fourth inning did him in. Yes, foul balls. Some good at-bats by Brennan Boesch, Delmon Young, Jhonny Peralta, and Alex Avila caused Hughes to throw over 40 pitches in that inning alone. He reached his 100th pitch in the fifth for a total of 102 on the night, the last one coughing up a 2-run double to Miguel Cabrera.

Rick Porcello lived up to his billing as a ground-ball pitcher, where only four of his 17 recorded outs were of the fly ball variety. He allowed one home run, Eric Chavez' 11th on the season, which was a line drive that just cleared the line. He was not overpowering by any means, but he was good enough and efficient enough to hold the Yankees to three runs into the seventh. The Detroit bullpen held the Yankees silent until the ninth. The Yankees got to Jose Valverde for a couple of runs, forcing him to throw 33 pitches, which may make him unavailable for tomorrow's game. Still, his performance was enough to earn his 22nd save.

Miguel Cabrera continued to maintain his reputation as a Yankee killer, starting the Tigers' scoring with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth. He accounted for three RBI's in the Tigers' 6-run game, he got them on board with their first run, and he gave them the go-ahead run in the fifth.

Ichiro Suzuki and Russell Martin, who both are notoriously bad with men in scoring positions, came through in the clutch. They came into the game hitting .140 and .167 respectively with two outs and men in scoring position. Ichiro got a 2-out base hit with a runner on third to score the Yankees 3rd run on the night and got another 2-out RBI base hit in the 9th. Russell Martin continued the rally in the ninth with a double that scored the fifth run. May the trend continue - go Ichiro and Russ!

A couple of injury scares tonight:

• In the top of the fourth, Nick Swisher fouled a ball off his foot, which brought a visit from the trainer. Thankfully, he was fine and went on to hit a double in the at-bat. 

•  In a sort-of funny, freaky accident, Eric Chavez threw a warm-up toss prior to the start of the bottom of the sixth that found Cody Eppley's head. A smile and a laugh showed that he was all right.

Honorable mentions: 

•  Joba Chamberlain is starting to show some confidence in his mid-to-high 90s fastball, using one to strike out Austin Jackson to end the eighth. That pitch was critical to his dominance in the recent past.
• Mark Teixeira had a multi-hit game, going two for four, scoring on Chavez' home run.
•  Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, and Eric Chavez combined on a nice play, nailing Andy Dirks out at third to end the 6th inning.

It is now up to CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda to help the Yankees split the series in Detroit. 

Final Score:  Tigers 6, Yankees 5

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer




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