Well, this game was no fun.
Masahiro Tanaka did not look sharp right from the start. Both Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez connected on hanging splitters for 2-run home runs in the first inning, staking out the Tigers to an early four run lead. Two of those four runs were unearned, though, as Didi Gregorius committed an error on what would have been the third out before the second home run of the inning.
The Tigers got to Tanaka again in the second, this time without the long ball. Andrew Romine singled, Rajai Davis singled to left field on a ball Chris Young might have had a chance to grab on a shoestring. A walk to Miguel Cabrera loaded the bases, before Victor Martinez drove in two more runs on a soft seeing-eye groundball. Suddenly this was a six run game.
Brian McCann got one of those runs back with a home run to right field in the bottom of the second, snapping a 22-inning scoreless streak for Anibal Sanchez. The Yankees got another run with some two-out offense; Young singled, Stephen Drew drew a walk, and Brendan Ryan got the RBI base hit up-the-middle. This made it a four run game again, but was as close as the Yankees got.
J.D. Martinez kept tacking on for the Tigers, having himself a three home run night. The third of those blasts came of Danny Burawa making his major league début. The Yankees had two pitchers make their débuts in the sixth inning, both were unfortunately of the inauspicious variety. Burawa gave up four earned runs on three hits and a walk as he only got two outs in the sixth inning. Jose De Paula saw his first major league pitch sent into the stands. De Paula then settled in very nicely though, pitching scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth to spare the rest of the bullpen.
Drew continued his odd season with another two home run night, giving him 11 long balls on the year. The power is nice, though a few more trips on-base wouldn't hurt. The story of the day was the Tigers home runs though. Next up, the Philadelphia Phllies come in to town for a three game set. This would be a good series to win, Yankees. Michael Pineda takes the mound tomorrow, at 7:05 Eastern, facing Kevin Correia.