Yankees 2, Tigers 1: Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

This both was and was not the outing we hoped to see for the triumphant return of Daniel Norris. His actual pitching looked good, he went through 4.1 innings of work and gave up one hit, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, and collected a whopping 7 K. The single hit was a home run to Gleyber Torres that drove in two runs and gave the Yankees the lead in the fifth inning.

The reason the outing was a downer for Tigers fans watching wasn’t the performance of Norris, but that he left the game with calf cramping. Initially head athletic trainer Doug Teter seemed to have concerns about groin pain. The move was likely precautionary, and we have to hope for the best that this isn’t something more serious that will set Norris back any further.

The Tigers were first to draw blood in the game with a Victor Martinez sac fly that scored Mikie Mahtook.

Drew VerHagen finished off the fifth inning for Norris and did so relatively cleanly, giving up two walks but yielding no runs. He was replaced in the sixth by Buck Farmer who gave up a single hit but also kept the score steady at 2-1.

In the top of the seventh the Tigers offense started to show a little hustle with a lead off double from Grayson Greiner, followed by a single from JaCoby Jones who then subsequently stole second base, putting two runners in scoring position (his 10th stolen base of the season). This was unfortunately followed by two quick outs of Lugo and Mahtook, leaving it all up to Jim Adduci (who already had two hits in the game). The count went full, but Tanaka won the battle, leaving two Tigers stranded.

Perhaps one of the highlights off the field was a ball almost hitting a female security guard in the Tigers dugout and she ended up asking Jordan Zimmermann to give her the ball, which was spectacular. Daniel Stumpf replaced Buck Farmer in the seventh and between the two they were able to keep the Yankees scoreless.

The Tigers were simply unable to regain the lead at any point, and the Yankees won the game on a single home run. Oof.