About Last Night: Tigers Crush Yankees Again

by Paul Semendinger

September 11, 2025

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I pause on September 11 to remember, reflect, and pray because today is the anniversary of that most devastating day 24 years ago. In times of sadness, despair, misery, and grief, it is important to remember that there are much more important things than a baseball game, a baseball season, and the World Series.

Of course, one thing about baseball is that it provides us a needed distraction, a little break, from the more serious things in life that occur around us.

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Last night's game was on a streaming service. It seems that these games have been falling into my lap to report on recently. That fact should be a message to the Yankees and Major League Baseball. They don't care about me and my reporting, but the fact that I continually have to do these games indicates a bigger and more serious trend.

The other writers here, all big time fans and some of the best, the most knowledgeable, and the most loyal fans of the Yankees are not watching the games when they're being streamed. The Yankees are not just taking games away from the casual fan. The Yankees are driving away their biggest fans. Each time they put a game on a streaming service, I care just a little less about the team. That's just a fact.

If the Yankees are driving away their other most dedicated fans, that's a huge problem. And they are. Whatever money MLB makes from these deals, it is not worth it, nor is it sustainable. One cannot grow a product if consumers cannot consume it. One cannot grow a new fan base if those new fans are separated from the product. The Yankees are making it so new fans cannot see the games while at the same time taking the game away from their most loyal fans - the ones who actually care and who wish to believe, hope, or pretend that the game actually matters. Long term, this is a failing strategy. While in the short term, the team might be counting their profits, the product is rotting from within.

This same dynamic is true with all of the sport's ties to the gambling industry. When one looks at short-term gains while ignoring long-term implications, they are operating in a manner destructive to their product.

Both of these major decisions will eventually be the ruination of the sport. One only need to see how out of mainstream boxing has become to see this game's future as well. The greed of the owners and the people who run (ruin) these sports will be their downfall.

***

Of course, I also didn't see the game. I followed, occasionally, by looking at the Play-By-Play data on espn.com and seeing some highlights on Twitter. I did this only so I could report on this game as a service to our readers. I remain of the opinion that if the Yankees wish to take games away from the fans, they can, they have every right to, but the result of that decision is that I also don't have to truly care about the game or the outcome. I do not invest in any way in these games.

When the Yankees aren't on, I find better things to do. Spoiler alert - the Yankees got crushed last night. They did me a favor by not allowing me to see the game.

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The Game:

The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when old friend Gleyber Torres singled home two runs with two outs. (Tigers 2-0)

The Tigers next got a run in the top of the seventh inning. Mark Leiter was called for balk because one of his pitches got caught in Austin Wells' chest protector. That balk moved a runner to third base. Gleyber Torres then drove the runner home on a ground out. (Tigers 3-0)

It feel apart for the Yankees in the top of the eighth inning. Riley Greene hit a two-run homer giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead. Later Dillon Dingler doubled and went to third on a Cody Bellinger error. A single scored Dinger. Later, Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer. (Tigers 8-0)

The Yankees scored in the eighth on an Austin Wells homer. (Tigers 8-1)

Riley Greene hit a sacrifice fly for the Tigers in the 9th. Colt Keith also hit a two-run homer. (Tigers 11-1)

And that was that.

***

Quick Stats:

• Carlos Rodon: 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs

• Mark Leiter: 0.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 run

• Camilo Doval: 1 inning, 3 hits, 3 runs, home run allowed

• Tim Hill: 0.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, home run allowed

• Luke Weaver: 0.1 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, home run allowed

• Austin Slater (outfielder) - the only relief pitcher to not allow a run

• Anthony Volpe - Did not play

• Aaron Judge: (Clearly not the hitter he was before his injury) 0-for-3, 2 DP

• The Yankees managed 8 hits, but 3 of them came in the ninth inning after the game was long over

• Yankees: 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position

• The Yankees struck out 13 times

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Other Quick Thoughts:

• Anthony Volpe sat. Is that a change for the Yankees or will he still be starting most games going forward?

• Cody Bellinger has bobbled two balls in recent games in the outfield - hopefully that's not a portent of things to come.

• The Tigers have outscored the Yankees 23-3 in the two games they have played so far in this three-game series

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Next Up:

The series concludes tonight at 7:05 p.m. Cam Schlittler will pitch for the Yanks.