Like many of our friends throughout the SB Nation network, we are simulating the 2020 MLB season with MLB The Show 20. While we are unable to stream the games as they would otherwise be happening, we will try to get ahead of the curve and post about the games on the same day they would have taken place. Or, you know, at least get them back on schedule. Now, onto the recap!
The simulated Detroit Tigers struggled against a New York Yankees starter for the second game in a row, but after falling behind 4-1 again, they found a way to come back and steal a 5-4 victory on Tuesday. C.J. Cron hit a huge game-tying double in the ninth, and Jonathan Schoop poked a single into right field to score Cron and win the game.
Things looked bleak for the Tigers for most of the game, however. Masahiro Tanaka held the Tigers without a baserunner through the first four innings, while Spencer Turnbull did not appear to be nearly as sharp. A single and a Cameron Maybin error put two runners on in the second, and Brett Gardner hit a hanging fastball into the left field gap to put the Yankees up 2-0. D.J. LeMahieu followed with a solo home run in the third, and the Yankees went up 3-0 before Detroit’s offense even managed a hit.
The Tigers finally got into the hit column in the fifth, and they pulled a run back soon after. Christin Stewart singled up the middle to open the inning, spoiling Tanaka’s early perfect game bid. C.J. Cron followed with a double off the left field wall, and Jonathan Schoop’s ground ball to short scored Stewart. Maybin nearly plated another run with a deep fly ball, but Brett Gardner ran it down in Comerica Park’s cavernous outfield for a harmless fly out. Austin Romine also hit the ball hard in his plate appearance, but Tanaka speared it at the mound for an easy out.
Meanwhile, Turnbull and the pitching staff settled in nicely. Turnbull was able to keep the Yankees at bay and make it through six innings, and lefthander Gregory Soto worked a surprisingly efficient seventh. But when Buck Farmer gave up a solo home run to LeMahieu in the eighth — after stranding two runners on base in the seventh, no less — it appeared that the Tigers were destined for another loss.
Instead, the Tigers offense got to work. Romine led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to right, and Harold Castro was hit by a pitch with one out. Niko Goodrum plated both runners with a double into the left field corner, but made a costly mistake when he was thrown out at third base on the play.
After Joe Jimenez worked a 1-2-3 ninth, the Tigers wasted no time against Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino in the bottom of the frame. Christin Stewart worked a walk to open the inning, and Cron scored him with a double to the wall in right, his ninth of the year. Schoop slapped Ottavino’s next pitch into right field to score Cron easily, giving the Tigers another comeback win.