A Bad Inning… Detroit 12 NY 2

September 10, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Aaron Judge HR #44, and #359 of career, passing Yogi Berra on all-time Yankee list.

It was a 2-2 tie heading into the 7th with Will Warren pitching great, when the bullpen of Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. came in and shit the bed — allowing 8 runs on a double, a walk, a walk, a single, a walk, a single, a hit-by-pitch, a walk, a wild pitch, and a triple — without getting an out!

Tim Hill came in to finally get outs in the inning but the game was essentially over — final score Detroit 12 NY 2 on a beautiful, 70-degree Tuesday night in the Bronx.

The loss marred what was looking like a great evening, with NY taking a 2-0 lead on HR’s by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, and Will Warren pitching great, sans a 2-run HR allowed to Parker Meadows in the 5th. Toronto was losing all night — but ended up tying their game in the 9th and winning in the 10th.

“(Riley) Greene jumps him on a strike/splitter right away, then lost the strike zone a little bit,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Fernando Cruz and the bad inning. “Got a couple of swing and misses, but they were pretty disciplined with the split. I thought (Spencer) Torkelson had a good at bat laying off the 3-2 split that a lot of guys chase. Just couldn’t get in the zone enough there, and obviously the inning got away from us.”

On Leiter, Boone said, “He’s had some extended stretches where I haven’t gone to him. There’s been a lot of games where he’s up, I’m almost going to him, and it just hasn’t happened. So maybe it’s a little product of not getting consistent work. Obviously he’s behind tonite and not in the strike zone enough. But I feel like the stuff is there; a little more consistent work and he can take off. I feel like the split’s where it needs to be; and he’s got the curve and the sinker. Tonite he was struggling to find the zone. But I feel like he can get on a roll — especially in those high leverage situations, he usually doesn’t flinch. Probably just a little bit of uneven work since he’s been back.”

NY falls to 80-64, and falls 3 back of Toronto and are now tied with Boston. Detroit improves to 83-62, in 1st in the AL Central by 8.5 games over Cleveland.

1. Judge HR in 1st Puts NY Up 1-0

Detroit started Casey Mize, their Ace, who came in with a 13-5 3.87 record.

Aaron Judge got to him right away with a 412-foot HR to opposite field right center — his 359th HR of his career, moving ahead of Yogi Berra on the all-time Yankee list.

2. Bellinger HR in 4th Puts NY Up 2-0

Mize then retired the next 9 in a row, until Cody Bellinger got him with a 389-foot HR to right with 1 out in the 4th. NY 2 Detroit 0.

3. Warren Pitched Great — Sans 2-Run HR in 5th

Meanwhile Will Warren was pitching Great — winning the pitchers’ duel into the 5th.

It was the first game back in NY for Gleyber Torres, and he got a nice ovation when he stepped up in the 1st with 1 out — then knocked a double off the wall in left.

But Warren got the next 2 outs, then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th — retiring 11 in a row.

Grisham Saves Warren

Warren got help from his friend Trent Grisham in centerfield in the 3rd — who made a tremendous catch at the wall that saved at least an extra base hit.

But in the top of the 5th, Warren walked leadoff batter Spencer Torkelson, and Parker Meadows zinged him with a 1-out, 391-foot HR to right center for a 2-2 tie.

Warren then retired the next 5 batters in a row — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th to end the night with a line of 6 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 5 K’s, 1 walk. He doesn’t get a decision; his ERA goes to 4.22.

4. Mize Shuts Down Yank Minor Rally in 5th

The Yanks knocked on Mize’s door in the 5th — with consecutive singles by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells leading off the inning.

But with 1st and 2nd, nobody out, Mize got tough — getting Anthony Volpe, who was trying to bunt the runners over — to pop out with a 94-MPH sinker, striking out Ryan McMahon with a sinker and 3 straight 88-MPH splitters, and getting Trent Grisham to fly out to center on a 95-MPH four-seam fastball.

Volpe was booed on Twitter and at the Stadium — but it seemed more of Mize being an Ace.

5. The Bad Inning…

Fernando Cruz — who has been Fantastic — came in to pitch the 7th and it was like watching a slow motion train wreck. He had no control of his splitter, and was throwing everything wild — almost hitting several batters. It went like this:

And Fernando was gone — replaced by Mark Leiter Jr. — and the train wreck continued:

Leiter was gone — replaced by Tim Hill, who got the first out of the inning — a ground out. Hill got the final outs of the inning — another run scoring on a ground out to make it 11-2.

6. Nick Turturro Provides Relief; Hart Adds Perspective

The only relief Yankee fans got was Nick Turturro blowing a gasket at Costco.

NY Knick and Elston Howard‘s nephew Josh Hart chalked it up to “A bad inning…”

7. Paddack Shuts Down NY for Last 3

Paul Blackburn pitched the 8th and 9th for NY — allowing a run.

For Detroit, 6’5 righty Chris Paddack came in and no-hit the Yanks the last 3 innings for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401697071

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