About Last Night: Yankees 5, Tigers 1

About Last Night: Yankees 5, Tigers 1

By Derek McAdam

September 6, 2023

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The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers last night by a score of 5-1. They have now won seven of their last eight games and and have improved to 69-69 on the season.

Quick Stats: W: Gerrit Cole (13-4): 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 K

L: Joey Wentz (2-11): 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB

Just a few days after Aaron Judge hit his 250th career home run, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 400th career home run last night. Not only was the home run a career milestone for Stanton, but it also broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Yankees the lead, which ultimately won them the game.

The Big Story: Last night’s game drew some buzz from the Yankee fans, as it was Jasson Dominguez’s first career game at Yankee Stadium. And while Stanton was sitting at 399 career home runs entering last night’s game, that didn’t seem to be as big of a headline as Dominguez’s first game in the Bronx.

The Yankees also celebrated Miguel Cabrera’s fantastic career with a pre-game ceremony. The Yankees presented Cabrera with several gifts, including a $10,000 check to Cabrera’s foundation.

DJ LeMahieu got the Yankees on the board early with a leadoff home run in the 1st inning, an opposite field home run for his 15th of the season. While the Yankees had a few other opportunities to push a run or two across the plate, they failed to do so.

Cole got himself into a couple of troubling spots throughout the first few innings, but managed to get out of the innings unscathed. However, in the 6th, Cabrera singled to right field to drive in a run and tie the game at 1-1. Cabrera was then replaced with a pinch-runner and received a nice ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd.

The tie game did not last long as Stanton ripped a two-run home run, his 400th career home run, above the left-center field bullpen to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Stanton became the 4th fastest player in history (In regard to games played) to get to the milestone.

In the 8th, following a walk to Judge and a double from Dominguez, Gleyber Torres delivered a two-run double down the left field line to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead.

Clay Holmes would come in for the 9th in a non-save situation and recorded the final three outs.

Player of the Game: Despite his three strikeouts, Stanton’s milestone home run ended up being the ultimate factor for the Yankees in this game. Congratulations to Giancarlo for this incredible feat.

Notable Performances: Cole gave the Yankees another solid performance on the mound, and the bullpen consisting of Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loaisiga and Holmes all came in and took care of business. Judge also reached base four times last night, walking three times and also hitting a single in the 1st.

Better to Forget: Ben Rortvedt did reach base with a walk, and his catching behind the plate has been just fine, but his offensive struggles are what is ultimately hurting Rortvedt’s playing time. Rortvedt will need to improve at the plate, and somewhat quickly, if he wants to find himself on the Opening Day roster next year. The Yankees will likely have Jose Trevino back by then, but will it be Wells or Rortvedt backing him up? It will be a question that may be determined by how the next few weeks go.

My Take: Even with the Yankees taking three out of four games in Detroit last week, I didn’t think they would take the series against Houston, much less sweep the series. And they got off to a great start this series with a win. The team is clearly rallying around the presence of the younger players. We’ve seen LeMahieu, Torres, and Stanton have several home runs over the past week, and Judge continues to put together some strong at-bats for the team.

Sure, it’s early to see how players like Dominguez and Wells are going to do in the Bronx, given that Wells didn’t even play last night. But it’s fun to watch this team again. Even though this team still isn’t necessarily close to a playoff spot (but are still technically in it), bringing up the younger players was the correct decision for the team to make. I like players like Jake Bauers and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but will they be around for the next three or four years in the organization? Likely not.

I’m sure that Aaron Boone will continue to play the young kids mostly every day, which I like to see. Hopefully, they can continue to grow and blossom into bright young Major Leaguers.

Stanton’s home run in the 6th was awesome to see and, to be honest, I completely forgot that he was sitting on No. 399 heading into the game. But congratulations to Giancarlo for that incredible milestone. Of course, my first thought is how much sooner could we have seen that monumental home run if it wasn’t for all the injuries that he has sustained over the years. Nonetheless, the next milestone to hit is No. 500, so let’s see if he can reach that number.

Overall, this was a great Yankee win. The pitching has found its groove over the past two weeks and proved it again last night. The offense is still a little too reliant on home runs, but I’m not going to focus too much on that. They’re winning games and scoring runs, which is what I want to see.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will face the Tigers in the second game of the series tonight. Matt Manning is scheduled to start for the Tigers, while Clarke Schmidt will take the mound for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST from Yankee Stadium.