Tigers Tame Yanks

by Andrew Hefner

June 23, 2026

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The Big Story

Experimentation seems to rarely work out in the Yankees favor, and a day after pushing back Gerrit Cole’s start, New York dropped their third game in a row in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The month of June has not historically treated the Yankees well, but the loss marks the first three game skid since May 20-22. 

Gerrit Cole had been excellent since his return from Tommy John surgery and only had one loss to his name entering Monday night, but simply was not competitive for much of his outing against the Tigers. Cole surrendered all five runs in 4.1 innings of work and nine hits. He also had five strikeouts to just one walk 

The Yankees were the ones to strike first, though, as an Ali Sanchez double in the second inning added on to a run of .500 batting for the young catcher and put the Yankees on the board early. Unfortunately, Sanchez was hit by a pitch late in the game as well and had to exit with pain in his arm, although initial scans have come back clear with more testing to be done. With Wells still struggling after his return from the IL in limited at bats, a long-term injury for Sanchez would be a big hit to the Yankees’ offensive production. 

Riley Greene hit the Tiger’s only home run of the game in the fifth to add on the fifth run for Detroit while young Kevin McGonigle had a two hit night of his own with two RBIs. 

Framber Valdez was incredible on the bump for the Tigers as he shut down a tired looking Yankees offense that only put up four hits in his six innings of work and one run. Valdez also struck out eight. 

The only sign of life late in the game for New York came on an Amed Rosario blast to pull the Yankees within two in the eight, followed by two runners reaching. Unfortunately, Jasson Dominguez could not quite get the job done with two outs as he struck out in a horrid at bat on just three pitches. 

The Yankees still remained ahead of the Rays by two games with the loss. 

Player of the Game

Framber Valdez was lights out all evening and allowed just four hits over six innings with eight strikeouts. 

Final Line: Final Line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Yankees Player of the Game 

Anthony Volpe takes home last night's honors after his two-hit performance that included a slick sliding play in the field that saved a run from scoring late in the game.

Final Line: 2-4, 2B, K

Notable Performances 

Ryan Yarbrough: 2.0 IP, 2 BB

Paul Blackburn: 1.2 IP, 2 K

Paul Goldschmidt: 2-4

Amed Rosario: 1-5. HR, 2 RBI

Ali Sanchez: 1-2, RBI

Better to Forget

Ben Rice: 0-4, 2 K

Cody Bellinger: 0-3

Jasson Dominguez: 0-4, K 

Gerrit Cole: 4.1 IP, 5 ER

My Take 

I am not entirely sure what is causing the mini-skid the Yankees are on but I hope it comes to an end soon. The pushing back of Cole’s start was already a curious decision to me, but last night's outing further makes me question the rationale behind the move. 

There are some offensive bright spots (ah-hem Paul Goldschmidt), but many of the bats remain inconsistent and “streaky”, as is the common Yankees way it seems. 

The rest of the series will hopefully go the Yankees way and I hope that the Tigers of all teams are not going to ruin their grasp at first place in the division. 

Next Up

The Yankees take on the Tigers in game two of the series tonight as Carlos Rodon takes the mound with Casey Mize standing in his way in Detroit. First pitch comes at 6:40 on YES.

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(Cover image created by ChatGPT)