It was a nice day Sunday Afternoon at Comerica Park. The weather was decent, the crowd celebrated as New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was celebrated for his accomplishments in the game of baseball as this was his last visit to Detroit in a Yankees uniform, barring an outside chance that the two clubs meet once again in the post season. And all the kids were ecstatic as they all got to ride the Ferris wheel for free. Laughter, smiling, hotdogs and beer. What a great day! Then the game started.
The lone bright spot in a very long day that was dominated by starting pitcher CC Sabathia and the Yankees was Justin Verlander, but even his performance was below what Tigers fans have come to expect. In seven innings pitched, Verlander allowed nine base runners and three earned runs, while allowing one ball to leave the yard off of the bat of Jayson Nix.
Being relieved by Phil Coke and then later Octavio Dotel, the Tigers imploded, allowing another four runs in a game where the Tigers bats just could not get going.
The Yankees bullpen wasn’t a welcomed spot for the Tigers bats either as they finished out the game with two shutout innings. Falling to the Yankees 7-0 Sunday afternoon, the Tigers fell to 3-3 and are now 1.0 game behind the Central Division leading Minnesota Twins.
Detroits next games will be Tuesday afternoon at 1:08 PM ET as Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes on Brandon Morrow (0-0, 1.50 ERA).
Other Tigers Notes – Catcher Alex Avila and his wife Kristina gave birth to their daughter Avery Noelle Avila Sunday Morning. Congratulations to both and welcome to the family Avery!
