Yankees finish disappointing homestand, lose to Tigers 11-7

File this away as another frustrating series for the Yankees. Although Lance Lynn pitched very well through his first three outings in pinstripes, he surrendered a whopping 19 earned runs over his last four starts. That includes today’s awful performance. Instead of winning the series, the Yankees were forced to settle for a split and end the homestand with a 3-4 record against the White Sox and Tigers. Not ideal.

Detroit got to Lynn early and often today. In the first, JaCoby Jones beat the shift and lined a ball to left center that split Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner. They got on the board thanks to Niko Goodrum’s RBI single over Adeiny Hechavarria’s head. In the second inning, they added another run after three consecutive hits. Lynn issued a one-out walk to Jeimer Candelario to load the bases. However, the Yankees got out of the jam as Jones grounded into a double play that ended with Luke Voit in the splits at first base.

The Yankees stayed in the game with a big first inning. With one out, Aaron Hicks blasted a solo shot to right field. Miguel Andujar followed with a double off the base of the left field wall. That brought Gary Sanchez to the plate, and he delivered an RBI single to left. Andujar scored standing up, but the throw from the outfield drilled him on the hand as he brought it up to his helmet.

Lynn was able to get through the third inning without any issue, but that ended up being the only positive of his outing today. Two singles, and two doubles just down the left field line in the fourth were enough to end his day. Tommy Kahnle entered with two outs and immediately surrendered a home run to left that just cleared the wall. By the time the frame ended, the Tigers had a 7-2 lead.

Never count the Yankees out, though. They did mount a comeback, or at least they tried to. Luke Voit hit a solo dinger in the fourth to make it a 7-3 game. The bats quieted down after that until the eighth. Andrew McCutchen led off the inning, still looking for his first hit in pinstripes. Instead, he took first base after being plunked in the thigh. After Aaron Hicks worked a walk, Andujar smacked an RBI through the hole. Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases, sending Voit to the plate with one out. The first baseman struck out, and Neil Walker pinch hit for Hechavarria. An RBI that ricocheted off of the heel of the pitcher’s glove allowed everyone to be safe and gave the Yankees their fifth run of the game. At that point they decided to pinch hit Greg Bird for Hechavarria. He sent a ball to right field that looked like it was going to land in the stands, but it was caught at the wall to end the inning.

Sonny Gray pitched four innings of one-run ball before the Yankees turned to Stephen Tarpley in the ninth inning. His MLB debut started off nicely but ended poorly. He recorded two outs in between a double to Nicholas Castellanos, then walked Mikie Mahtook on four straight pitches. Tarpley was up 0-2 on James McCann, then lost him on four straight balls. Back-to-back singles allowed three runs to score before Tarpley struck out Victor Reyes to end the top half.

With two outs in the ninth, the Yankees managed two hits and two walks off Shane Greene to make it an 11-7 game. Voit struck out looking for the final out.

The Bombers will head west tonight to kick off a tough nine-game road trip against the Athletics, Mariners, and Twins. CC Sabathia will start tomorrow’s game opposite of Trevor Cahill at 4:05 ET.