About Yesterday: Yanks Win 4-3

By Paul Semendinger

April 10, 2025

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About Yesterday:

The Yankees played another afternoon game yesterday. Unfortunately, it was on Amazon Prime, so I couldn't watch. Today's summary comes via my listening to the radio coverage and following along on ESPN GameCast.

I'm sure that Amazon didn't get the viewership it hoped for with the day game yesterday. I'm not upset for them. I will always be frustrated when the Yankees (and/or) MLB takes games away from the loyal fans.

The big story was that the Yankees won the game 4-3, although Devin Williams came in with a 4-0 lead in the ninth and was terrible.

Quick Stats:

WP - Max Fried

HR - Ben Rice

SV - Mark Leiter, Jr.

The Game Story:

• In the first inning, Jack Flaherty, pitching for the Tigers struck out the first three Yankees in order. In the Tigers' half, Max Fried, the Yankees' starter, allowed a two-out single, but no runs.

• In the second inning, Paul Goldschmidt singled for the Yankees to begin the frame. Jazz Chisholm followed with a walk before Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez both struck out. After a two-out walk to J.C. Escarra to load the bases, Oswaldo Cabrera flew out. Max Fried answered by striking out the Tigers in order.

• In the third inning, the Yankees went down in order. Jack Flaherty had two more strikeouts. Max Fried allowed a two-out single, but three gorund outs made that inning go quietly for the Tigers.

• In the fourth inning, the Yankees went down in order. The Tigers got another single, but did no other damage.

• Through four innings, Jack Flaherty had 7 strikeouts and Max Fried, six.

• In the fifth inning, the Yankees got a two-out single from Oswaldo Cabrera, but no runs. The Tigers got a two-out triple from Zach McKinstry. It sounded as if Jasson Dominguez bobbled the ball a few times as he chased it down and prepared to throw, but, your guess is as good as mine. That was how is was described on the radio. It mattered little, the Tigers didn't score.

• Through four innings, both starting pitchers had 8 strikeouts.

• In the sixth, Aaron Judge hit a long foul ball before walking. After Cody Bellinger struck out, Paul Goldschmidt doubled to put runners on second and third, but more importantly, that double knocked Jack Flaherty out of the game. Tyler Holton came in, got Jazz Chisholm to bounce to the mound where he caught and retired Aaron Judge at third and then struck out Anthony Volpe. Max Fried retired the Tigers in order gathering another strikeout as well.

• The Yankees broke through, finally, in the seventh inning. Oswaldo Cabrera had a two-out single which was followed by a two-run homer from Ben Rice. Yankees 2, Tigers 0. For the bottom of the inning, Trent Grisham entered as a defensive replacement (sending Cody Bellinger to left field) for Jasson Dominguez. The Tigers got a leadoff double, but a flyout, a strikeout (number ten!), and then another (turn it up to eleven), got Max Fried out of the inning.

• In the 8th inning, the Yankees got a two-out walk by Anthony Volpe, but did not do anything else offensively. Luke Weaver came in to pitch for the Yankees. He gave up a single, but nothing else.

• The Yankees put the game away in the 9th inning. It was a disaster of an inning for the Tigers. There were dropped balls, an error, two hit batters, a pitcher/catcher electronic signal issue, an Aaron Judge two run single, and when it was all over, the Yankees had a four run lead. Yankees 4, Tigers 0. Devin Williams came in (a non-save situation) to get the final outs... and he was a disaster. He walked a batter, got two strikeouts, then threw a wild pitch (4-1 Yanks), and gave up a two-run single (4-3 Yanks), and was lifted from the game. Mark Leiter, Jr. came in and got a popout to get the save.

Player(s) of the Game:

• Max Fried - He was terrific. Fried pitched 8 innings, allowing no runs. He struck out eleven batters. He walked no batters.

Notable Performanes:

• Max Fried and Jack Flaherty battled throughout. They both sounded great on the radio.

• Ben Rice's homer gave the Yankees the lead in the 7th inning.

Better to Forget:

• The Yankees loaded the bases in the second inning, but they failed to score any runs.

• The Yankees had runners on second and third and one out and didn't score in the sixth inning.

• Devin Williams was terrible.

My Takes:

• Remember before the season when I wrote that the Yankees don't have a leadoff hitter? Well, they still do not. Their actions prove this, as they're trying a host of different approaches trying to find a leadoff hitter. Thus far, over 12 games, the following players have led off for the Yankees: Austin Wells (1 game), Paul Goldschmidt (7 games), and Ben Rice (4 games). I see it as poor roster design/planning when a team heads into the season without a plan for something as simple as having a leadoff batter. This was also obvious over the winter.

• I watched a game on-line through YES a week or so ago and the TV was minutes behind ESPN. For this game, I listened on the radio - which was a bit ahead (not by as much) of the GameCast.

• It's great when the Yankees have a quality starting pitcher like Max Fried going. Thus far, he is the only starter I have any confidence in on the 2025 Yankees. And he was terrific yesterday. Hopefully Clarke Schmidt comes back and is effective. Also, the same for Luis Gil. It is clear the Yankees need another starter. I hope Brian Cashman can swing a deal...

• Bringing in Devin Williams in the 9th inning made sense to get him some work and try to find his best stuff. He couldn't find it...

• The Yanks went 3-3 on the road trip.

Next Up:

The Yankees are off today. They'll play tomorrow at Yankee Stadium against the San Francisco Giants. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Marcus Stroman will get the start for the Yankees.