Pelfrey Comes Out Flat In Tigers Debut; Yankees Win, 8-4
NOAH TRISTER
AP Baseball Writer
DETROIT (AP) — CC Sabathia pitched into the seventh inning in his return for New York, and Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran homered in the cold to lift the Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Sabathia (1-0) allowed three runs and four hits in six-plus innings in his first start since missing the postseason last year while undergoing alcohol rehabilitation. He retired the first nine batters he faced and had only one really messy stretch, in the fourth. Rodriguez gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first with his 688th career homer, and Beltran hit a two-run shot in the fifth.
Mike Pelfrey (0-1) allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings in his first start for the Tigers after signing with Detroit in the offseason.
The temperature at game time was 31 degrees, the coldest in Comerica Park history, according to STATS LLC.
There were snowflakes floating above the field shortly before the game, but that wasn't much of a factor after the first pitch. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said beforehand that he hoped Sabathia could give the team six innings, and the big left-hander did just that. He was given a nice lead to work with by the New York offense.
The Yankees led 6-0 after a four-run fourth highlighted by Jacoby Ellsbury's three-run triple. Sabathia walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning and gave up James McCann's two-run single — the first Detroit hit. Mike Aviles lined out to deep left with the bases loaded to end that rally.
Beltran's homer made it 8-2. Sabathia pitched to one batter in the seventh, allowing a single before being taken out of the game at 90 pitches. The Tigers went on to score two runs in the inning, but they couldn't cut any further into New York's lead after that. Detroit's season-opening three-game winning streak came to an end.
The previous coldest game-time temperature at Comerica was 36 degrees on April 23, 2015.
New York's Starlin Castro had two hits, including the 1,000th of his career.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: Chase Headley was given a day off, with 3B Ronald Torreyes replacing him in the starting lineup. Torreyes had three hits.
Tigers: OF Cameron Maybin (left wrist) went 1 for 4 with a double as a DH for Class A-Lakeland on Friday night as part of his rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Yankees: New York sends RHP Masahiro Tanaka (0-0) to the mound against Detroit on Sunday night. Tanaka received a no-decision in his first start of the season against Houston.
Tigers: Justin Verlander (0-0) makes his second start of the season. He's 5-7 with a 4.03 ERA in 17 starts against the Yankees.
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