Yankees rebuff Tigers, halt three-game slide
DETROIT -- Jacoby Ellsbury drove in three runs, including a two-run triple during a four-run seventh, and the New York Yankees halted a three-game losing streak by holding off the Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Thursday at Comerica Park.
The game was a makeup of an April 10 postponement.
Rob Refsnyder contributed two hits, two runs scored and an RBI for the Yankees. Dellin Betances (2-2) got the win in relief, allowing one run and one hit in 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman collected his eighth save despite allowing a run.
Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth before J.D. Martinez hit into a double play. Chapman then retired Miguel Cabrera on a groundout.
New York starter Michael Pineda had his best start of the season, holding the Tigers to one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Pineda had allowed a combined 20 runs in his previous four starts.
Tigers starter Matt Boyd (0-1) held the Yankees hitless during the first five innings before tiring and taking the loss. He was charged with four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Cabrera had three hits and a walk and scored two runs for Detroit, which has lost five of its last six.
Refsnyder broke up Boyd's no-hit bid with a double to left-center. Refsnyder advanced to third on a long flyout and scored on Ellsbury's sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at 1-1.
The Yankees took a 5-1 lead in the seventh. Boyd allowed three singles during the inning, including Refsnyder's go-ahead hit.
Aaron Hicks followed with an RBI single off Bobby Parnell, the former New York Mets reliever who was making his Tigers debut.
Ellsbury then smoked his triple to the right-field corner, knocking in two more runs to make it 5-1.
Detroit second baseman Mike Aviles had an RBI double off Betances during the bottom of the inning. Betances then struck out the next three batters.
Pinch-hitter Ian Kinsler made it 5-3 in the eighth with an RBI double off Andrew Miller but Justin Upton was thrown out trying to score on the play.
Detroit had four baserunners in the first three innings but didn't score. It broke through in the fourth with a little luck. Upton's two-out bloop hit to right knocked in Cabrera, who led off with a double and advanced on a groundout.
Boyd retired the first 14 batters before he walked Chase Headley on a 3-2 count. He appeared to hit the corner with his previous pitch but didn't get the call.
NOTES: Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler, who ranks second in the American League with 44 runs scored, was not in the starting lineup. Manager Brad Ausmus said it was simply a day of rest. ... SS Didi Gregorius was out of the Yankees' lineup for the same reason. "Didi's been playing a lot," manager Joe Girardi said. "If I'm going to give him a day off, I'll do it against a left-hander."... Girardi doesn't plan on any major changes to his slumping lineup. The Yankees were last in the American League with a .231 average. "It's one thing if you have one or two guys struggling. Then you shake the lineup up," he said. "When you have five or six, there's not a whole lot of shaking you can do." ... Ausmus said RHP Jordan Zimmermann "should be fine" for his scheduled start on Friday against the Chicago White Sox. Zimmermann, who is 7-2 and 2.52 ERA, missed a start with a mild groin strain.