Between all of the injuries and the losses, it’s difficult to fathom the season getting off to a worse start. The Yankees seem to be taking that as a challenge. Troy Tulowitzki exited the game with a calf strain, and was sent to the hospital for testing. The Yankees already lead the league with 10 players on the injured list. To add insult to injury, they dropped the series to the Tigers. We’ll have a full recap up in a bit, but here are some highlights in the meantime.
Winner of the Game
DJ LeMahieu deserves a lot of credit for being the Yankees’ most consistent hitter so far. He smacked the only extra-base hit of the game—a double—and has reached safely in all five games he has played in. He has looked great defensively, too. Signing LeMahieu might actually end up being the best move the Bombers made all offseason.
Honorable mention: Jonathan Loaisiga
Loser of the Game
The rest of the lineup. Matthew Boyd, owner of a lifetime 5.07 ERA, notched a career-high 13 strikeouts in this game. The Tigers bullpen racked up even more to bring the final number to 18 strikeouts for Yankees batters today. Note: This is evidently the first time the Yankees have ever struck out 18 times in a nine-inning game, according to Baseball Reference play index (h/t Brett). Thrilling stuff.
Honorable mention: Troy Tulowitzki