Joba hits Jeter
Reliever gives up game-winning HR in 12th as Yanks’ streak busted
Chase Headley drove a ball to and with the way the Yankees new third baseman has played since arriving in The Bronx, a tie game seemed inevitable.
But his fly ball fell just short and the Yankees fell, 4-3, to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, snap- streak.
An already tired bullpen wasn’t helped by extra innings. When the 11th inning rolled around, having already burned through Dellin Betances and Shawn Kelley and without David Robertson and apparently Adam Warren, Joe Girardi was forced to go to Matt Daley, recalled Monday for this season.
The right-hander managed to get the last out of the 11th, but he surrendered a go-ahead home run to Alex Avila with one out in the 12th and Nathan closed it out to keep the Yankees a game
The Yankees had their chances.
Joba Chamberlain entered to a chorus of boos with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to face Martin Prado with pinch-runner Ichiro Suzuki at first.
Ichiro managed to swipe second, but Chamberlain got Prado swinging to end the inning as the
Chamberlain didn’t win any fans when he hit Derek Jeter — after following through on a pledge to stick his tongue out at his former teammate — with a pitch with two outs in the 10th. The e x-Ya n ke e appeared to apologize and Jeter stayed in the game.
David Price was the second of three straight AL Cy Young Award winners to face the Yankees, sandwiched between Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
It was Price’s f irst start since being dealt by Tampa Bay shortly before last Thursday’s non-waiver trade deadline in a move that gave the Tigers arguably the best starting rotation in the league.
He gave up three runs in 8 2/3 innings. For the Yankees, Hiroki Kuroda was at times dominant against a potent Detroit lineup before giving up a run in each of his f inal two innings, leaving a 3-3 game after seven innings.
After giving up three runs in the first inning in a loss in Texas in his previous outing, Kuroda got off to another shaky start Tuesday, giving up a run in the first.
Brian McCann homered in the second and the Yankees added a run in the third on Jacoby Ellsbury’s RBI double to left. Prado made it 3-1 by hitting his f irst homer as a Yankee in the f ifth — but Kuroda couldn’t hold the lead.
After retiring 14 straight, which made it 3-2.
Detroit tied the game in the seventh. Victor Martinez started the rally with a single into the inf ield shift. After Kuroda got Torii Hunter and J.D. Martinez on pop-ups, he allowed a single to Nick Castellanos before Avila knocked in Martinez with another hit.
The Yankees offense, which did just enough in Monday’s win, had a chance to add more in the seventh.
Prado hit a one-out double after third baseman Castellanos dove, but couldn’t make the play and the ball bounced into left.
But Brendan Ryan lined out to second and then Price got Brett Gardner on a comebacker to keep the game knotted at 3-3.
B etances kept it that way with a perfect eighth, fanning Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera to end the inning, hitting 100 mph on the radar gun for a second straight outing.
Betances drilled Hunter on his left hand with one out in the ninth, knocking Hunter out of the game. Betances was replaced by Ke l l ey, wh o f inished the inning.
The Yankees flashed some excellent defense, with Je te r making a leaping grab of a hard Cabrera liner to lead off the fo u r t h and Ryan re cove r i n g from having a J.D. Martinez liner bounce off his glove by grabbing it with his bare hand.