GAME 111: In a brutal twist of the schedule, the Yankees faced the first of three straight Cy Young Award winners tonight to open their home stand with a 4-game set against the Detroit Tigers.
Max Scherzer (2013 Cy Young winner) was out-pitched by Brandon McCarthy, and New York’s bullpen (Matt Thornton, Shawn Kelley and David Robertson) shut it down for the final 3.1 innings.
The Vidal Nuno trade is looking more genius with every McCarthy start. McCarthy pitched out of a huge jam in the second, and scattered 5 hits over 5.1 innings, striking out 8, walking 2, and allowing 0 earned runs.
The box score does not do the Yankees offensive performance justice, as some sensational Detroit glove-work kept New York from adding a handful more runs.
Here’s the box score and recap.
2 More Cy Young’s On the Plate
SERIES MATCHUPS: Hiroki Kuroda (7-7, 3.98) takes the mound against 2012 Cy Young winner David Price (11-8, 3.11) whom the Tigers acquired just before the trade deadline. On Wednesday, Chris Capuano (1-2, 4.50) goes against 2011 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (1o-9, 4.66).
MEMORY LANE: On August 4, 1983, while warming up before the fifth inning of the Yankees 3-1 win over the Blue Jays game at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium, New York outfielder Dave Winfield accidentally kills a seagull with a thrown ball. After the game, Winfield is brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and is forced to post a $500 bond before being released. The charges will be dropped the following day.
On August 4, 1963, Mickey Mantle, batting for the first time in two months after breaking his left foot, hit a pinch home run in the ninth inning to beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-10 and give the Yankees a split of a doubleheader.
(Sources: TodayInBaseballHistory.com)
