Yankees' Reactions: Gerrit Cole Implodes in loss to Tigers
New York has lost three of their last four games
DETROIT — Instant Reactions to the Yankees’ (46-31) 5-3 loss to the Tigers (34-44) in the series opener on the road.
With the loss today, the Yankees have now lost three games in a row for the first time since 5/20-22 (the Brewers series).
Gerrit Cole was not great today. The first two innings were fine, but after that, the lack of command of his changeup and slider caught up to him as the outing went on. He then proceeded to give up 7 hits over his final two and a third innings of work and five runs.
Cole could have been affected by the extra day of rest he received by the Yankees resetting the rotation. His velocity was good; he just could not put batters away with two strikes and finish at-bats.
The Yankees, for the third straight day, scored first in their loss. After a two-out walk from Jose Caballero and a subsequent steal of second base, Ali Sanchez drove home on an RBI double. It was the first time the Yankees had a hit with runners in scoring position since Friday.
The Yankees had another opportunity to add runs in the third inning, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. stranded the runners in scoring position with a strikeout. This season, Chisholm Jr. has a 57 WRC+ with runners in scoring position, according to FanGraphs. For an RBI position like second base, that is just not great.
The Yankees were retired 11 in a row from the third inning with two on with two outs through the rest of Valdez’ outing. The Yankees had solid at-bats early, but that fell off as the game went on and Valdez got further and further into a grove.
Kevin McGonigle is going to be a force to be reckoned with in baseball for years to come. The youngster was 2-5 with an RBI groundout in the game and was really in the middle of everything.
Anthony Volpe should be banned from using ABS challenges. He once again challenged a pitch that was fully in the zone and lost himself $500 in the process.
Ali Sanchez was removed from the game after being hit by a pitch and removed from the game. Austin Wells came in to pinch-run and catch for the remainder of the game. Sanchez is making the best of his opportunity with the Yankees so far, so the hope is the injury is nothing dire.
After Sanchez left the game, Amed Rosario hit a two-run home run to cut into the Tigers’ lead and make the score 5-3. It was Rosario’s seventh home run of the season, fourth against right-handers, and one more than he had in all of 2025.
The Yankees had a big chance in the eighth inning after two infield singles with two outs, but after the Tigers went to setup man/closer Will Vest, Jasson Dominguez struck out on three straight pitches to end the inning and strand the runners and the Yankees’ only late opportunity.
The Yankees and the Tigers will play the second game of the three-game series tomorrow. LHP Carlos Rodon will get the start for the Yankees with RHP Casey Mize starting for the Tigers. The first pitch will be at 6:40pm on YES and the Gotham Sports App.