DETROIT — The sun came out, the temperature rose above 60 degrees and the fans — announced crowd of 21,529 — filled the lower deck of Comerica Park in anticipation of a history-making hit by Miguel Cabrera, seeking his 3,000th.
Instead, they "settled" for a much-needed and hard-fought 3-0 win over the New York Yankees, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Cabrera, facing Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery, lined out to left in the first inning, then struck out swinging in the fourth and sixth.
Things got real interesting in the bottom of the eighth. With runners at second and third and two outs, and with left-handed hitting Austin Meadows on-deck against left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, Yankees manager Aaron Boone walked Cabrera.
Although the strategy was sound from a baseball perspective, it did not go over well with the fans, who booed the decision for the rest of the inning.
Meadows, who had struck out in his three previous at-bats against the lefty Montgomery, spoiled the move by dumping a two-run single into shallow center.
The Tigers managed only one run off Montgomery in his six innings. Robbie Grossman doubled home Victor Reyes from first base in the third inning.
That solitary marker stood up, thanks to some clutch work by closer Gregory Soto in the top of the eighth.
The Yankees loaded the bases with one out against right-handed reliever Alex Lange. A pinch-hit leadoff double by Josh Donaldson started the rally.
Manager AJ Hinch went to lefty Soto. It took him three pitches to get out of the inning. Soto got Anthony Rizzo to tap back to the mound, getting a force out at the plate, and then induced a grounder to first from Giancarlo Stanton.
Michael Pineda, even with a delayed start and abbreviated spring, came as advertised in his Tigers' debut. He worked fast and threw strikes.
The only blemishes on his five innings of work were three singles, and only once did a Yankees runner get beyond second base. He played to both the spaciousness of Comerica Park and the steady breeze blowing in, inducing eight fly ball outs.
His only spot of bother came in the fifth when he gave up singles to D.J. LeMahieu and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. With runners at the corner and one out, he got Marwin Gonzalez to fly to shallow right. Center fielder Reyes got him out of the jam, tracking and running down a long line drive to the track off the bat of catcher Jose Trevino.
The Tigers signed Pineda in March for one year at $5.5 million and had to wait while he worked through visa issues. He only made two short starts with Triple-A Toledo before the Tigers summoned him. But with starters Casey Mize and Matt Manning on the injured list, Pineda's hurried arrival into the rotation was mandatory.
Relievers Jacob Barnes and Wily Peralta kept the Yankees off the board in the sixth and seventh.
