Yankees routed 9-3 as losing streak reaches six

The Tigers dominated the Yankees 9-3 to hand them their sixth straight loss. Cam Schlittler got the starting nod and faced off against Tarik Skubal in what many people expected to be a pitcher's duel. 

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Kerry Carpenter crushed a solo shot just out of the reach of Spencer Jones, hitting off his glove to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Riley Green followed with a home run of his own to make it back-to-back bombs and a 2-0 game. Spencer Torkelson then crushed a two-run home run bomb to make it 4-0. 

Ben Rice crushed a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, his 23rd of the year, to cut the Yankees' deficit to 4-1. 

In the top of the third inning, Green crushed his second home run of the night, this time a two-run bomb to make it a 6-1 ballgame. 

Schlittler surrendered a leadoff double in the top half of the fifth inning to end his night. Ryan Yarbrough replaced him and picked up the next three outs to strand the leadoff double. 

Final line for Schlittler: Four-plus innings pitched, seven hits allowed, six runs, walked one, and struck out five on 85 pitches. He threw his fastball 47% of the time, the cutter 25%, the curveball 18%, and the sinker 11%. Schlittler topped out at 98.7 mph, averaging 97.2, and had seven whiffs. 

Yarbrough came back out for the top of the sixth inning and allowed a single. It looked like he picked up the first out, but a throwing error by José Caballero put two runners in scoring position. The next batter, James Outman, crushed a three-run home run to make it 9-1. 

Max Schuemann was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. Then Ali Sánchez sent a single up the middle to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Paul Goldschmidt bounced into a double play to bring across a run to make it 9-2. 

Yovanny Cruz, who was recalled today, replaced Yarbrough in the top of the seventh and worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts. Cruz came back out for the top of the eighth inning and retired the side in order. 

Jake Bird got the call for the top of the ninth inning and worked around a couple of hits, putting together a scoreless frame. 

The Yankees tacked on a third run in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to an RBI bloop single from Jasson Dominguez to make it 9-3. Anthony Volpe then lined a single to right field to give the Yankees a four-hit game. Caballero popped out to end the ballgame as the Yankees dropped their sixth straight and the series. 

The Yankees will look to salvage the series tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound facing off against Troy Melton. First pitch is slated for 1:35 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Just another brutal game all around. Schlittler didn't have it at all; hands down the worst start of his career, allowing four home runs. Yarbrough didn't have it. Cruz was lights out; he deserves to stay on the MLB roster, especially over a guy like Yarbrough. Bird put together a scoreless outing; either he or Cruz will probably get sent back down either tomorrow or Friday when David Bednar returns. The offense was brutal, but they had four hits tonight, so a slight improvement: one from Rice, one from Anthony Volpe, and two from Dominguez. And just like that, the Yankees have lost six straight games, now 11 games above .500, and 2.5 back from the Rays. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees need to turn it around quickly before they head to Tampa for a four-game series against the Rays on Monday.