Yankees Look Forward To Off Day Following Frustrating Weekend
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A loss, and then a long flight to Denver. After a tough weekend to close out a rugged stretch, the New York Yankees were actually looking forward to getting on the plane.
"It's good. A day to rest, just to relax and get it going the next day. It's been a while," outfielder Carlos Beltran said.
The Yankees finished up playing 40 games in 41 days when they were shut down by rookie Michael Fulmer and the Detroit Tigers 4-1 Sunday. They're off Monday before playing two games against Colorado at Coors Field.
New York went 23-17 during its grind, which included a one-game trip to Detroit for a rainout makeup.
Detroit took two of three, winning a series in the Bronx for the first time since 2008 at the old Yankee Stadium. A day after Justin Verlander was in control, Fulmer excelled.
"Verlander's been throwing well, Fulmer's been throwing well, and we didn't score a lot of runs these last two days," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
"We've been in a long, long stretch," he added.
Fulmer dominated on Old-Timers' Day, winning his fifth straight start while extending his scoreless streak to 28 1/3 innings.
With Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson and several more Hall of Famers and World Series MVPs on hand for the pregame festivities, the 23-year-old Fulmer was the youngest and best player on the field.
Fulmer (7-1) blanked the Yankees on two hits for six innings and left with a 2.52 ERA. He's won six consecutive decisions overall — in a tremendous string of five starts, he's yielded just one run and 13 hits in 34 1/3 innings.
Fulmer struck out three and walked three, mixing a fastball in the mid-90s (mph) with an effective changeup. He escaped his only serious jam by retiring Beltran on a flyball with the bases loaded to end the fifth.
"His fastball has some sink to it at times, it has some cut to it at times, breaking ball and his changeup. He pitches up pretty effectively, too," Girardi said.
Ian Kinsler homered, drove in two runs and scored twice as the Tigers won for the seventh time in nine games. He homered and had five RBIs in Saturday night's win.
The Yankees lost their second in a row following a five-game winning streak.
Chase Headley hit an RBI single in the eighth off Justin Wilson. Francisco Rodriguez closed for his 19th save in 20 chances.
Michael Pineda (3-7) gave up two runs and struck out eight in six innings. He started out strong, but Miguel Cabrera singled to open the fourth and Victor Martinez then hit a liner that glanced off Pineda's backside for a single.
Pineda seemed shaky after that, with Nick Castellanos getting a sacrifice fly later in the inning and Martinez adding an RBI grounder in the fifth. Kinsler hit his 13th homer, a two-run drive off Anthony Swarzak in the seventh.
One player in pinstripes did hit a home run during the day, but it was former Yankees star Hideki Matsui celebrating his 42nd birthday with a second-deck shot off David Cone in the Old-Timers' exhibition.
ROSTER MOVE
The Yankees optioned righty reliever Chad Green to Triple-A after the loss. They didn't make a corresponding move, prompting speculation that 1B Ike Davis was on the way. Davis was released from his Triple-A contract with Texas earlier in the day. He played for Oakland last year.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez didn't play. He's hitting .211 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. "We just felt he needed a day," Girardi said.
UP NEXT
Tigers: LHP Matt Boyd (0-1, 3.38 ERA) starts Monday night in Chicago vs. White Sox RHP James Shields (2-8), who got hit hard in his first outing after being acquired from San Diego.
Yankees: After a day off, New York and RHP Nathan Eovaldi (6-2, 4.42) visit LHP Jorge De La Rosa (2-4, 8.81) and Colorado. Eovaldi is 6-0 with a 3.86 ERA in his last nine starts.
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