Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter hit two-run homers in a five-run eighth inning, while Jack Flaherty pitched five sharp innings as the Detroit Tigers pulled away for an 11-1 victory over the host New York Yankees on Wednesday night.
Detroit (84-62) beat the Yankees for the fourth time in five meetings this season and earned their third win in the past 14 meetings at Yankee Stadium.
Gleyber Torres drove in three runs against his former team, including a two-run single that gave the Tigers the lead in the fifth against New York’s Carlos Rodon (16-8). He added a run-scoring groundout in the seventh off Mark Leiter Jr. before Detroit scored eight runs in the eighth and ninth.
Greene hit his 33rd homer when he followed a single by Spencer Torkelson by connecting off reliever Camilo Doval in the eighth. Kerry Carpenter, who pinch hit for Jahmai Jones in the sixth, added a two-run drive into the second deck to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.
Parker Meadows contributed an RBI single off Tim Hill in between the homers. He also started the seventh with a single and scored on Torres’ groundout, which followed a wild pitch by Leiter.
Greene added a sacrifice fly to cap a 10-pitch plate appearance in the ninth off Luke Weaver. Colt Keith capped the latest big night for Detroit with a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth before the Yankees turned to outfielder Austin Slater on the mound.
Flaherty (8-13) allowed a leadoff single to Trent Grisham and a double to Ryan McMahon in his sixth scoreless outing this season. The right-hander struck out seven, walked one and got Aaron Judge to hit into a double play in the third.
New York (80-65) fell to 4-4 in a stretch of 12 straight games against teams currently in playoff position but remained three games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.
The Yankees hit into three double plays and avoided getting blanked when Austin Wells homered off Troy Melton in the eighth.
Rodon allowed two runs on five hits in six innings but was unable to win a sixth straight start. The left-hander struck out six, walked one and threw 28 pitches in the fifth when Detroit went ahead.
Tyler Holton retired Judge on a double play grounder to end the sixth when the Tigers held a 2-0 lead.
