The New York Yankees spent Friday night against the Detroit Tigers struggling at the plate, much as they did during four games in Baltimore.
In a four-batter span in the ninth inning, however, the Yankees did enough to eke out a 2-1 victory, and they can secure another series win Saturday afternoon in the rematch with the visiting Tigers.
The Yankees have scored eight total runs in their past five games after scoring 15 runs apiece in two wins in Milwaukee last weekend. In Friday's series opener, New York was three outs away from getting shut out for the sixth time in its first 34 games until getting four straight hits against Detroit closer Jason Foley.
"We've got a lot of good hitters," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "It's been a slow week for us, but you hope something like this can kind of ignite that fire a little bit and get the offense cranking, but it's about winning, and these guys have done a great job of that."
Anthony Rizzo won it with a walk-off single after Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI double to tie the score. Aaron Judge led off the inning with a single to snap an 0-for-14 skid and Alex Verdugo bunted for a base hit.
Rizzo's hit continued the Yankees' penchant for winning close games. New York improved to 9-3 in one-run games this season.
"Winning like this when we're not clicking is big down the line," Rizzo said. "I know it's one game, but every game matters."
Detroit is 8-5 in its past 13 and is attempting to avoid suffering a series loss for the first time since dropping three of four in Texas April 15-18. The Tigers scored their lone run on a bases-loaded walk by Colt Keith.
Riley Greene had three of Detroit's five hits, but the Tigers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranded 10, and made 16 outs via ground balls.
"One-run games are leaving things vulnerable to having things like the ninth inning happening," Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said after his team dropped to 7-6 in one-run games. "When you look back at close games, it's generally who takes advantage of opportunities."
Clarke Schmidt (2-1, 3.19 ERA) will start five days after taking his first loss of the season. Schmidt has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 32 starts since the beginning of last season, and he took a tough loss Monday in Baltimore when he allowed one run on three hits in a season-best 5 2/3 innings.
Schmidt is 2-0 with a 4.11 ERA in four career outings (two starts) against the Tigers. The right-hander last faced them Sept. 6 in New York and picked up a win, allowing three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Detroit's Casey Mize (1-0, 3.08) will make his sixth start in his return from Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of last season. Mize got a no-decision on April 27 when he allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings against the Kansas City Royals.
Mize is making his second career start against the Yankees. He allowed one run on five hits in five innings of a no-decision in Detroit on May 28, 2021.
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