Sanchez homers twice, Tanaka sharp as Yanks rout Tigers 13-4 (Aug 22, 2017)
DETROIT (AP) Gary Sanchez hit the type of home run normally reserved for his powerful teammate.
Sanchez's drive in the first inning was estimated at nearly 500 feet, and the New York catcher added another homer in the ninth to lead the Yankees to a 13-4 rout of the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night. Sanchez's two-run shot in the first was estimated at 493 feet by Statcast.
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is the only player with a longer one this year - he hit a 495-footer in June.
''I think I still got him by two feet,'' Judge said.
Sanchez sounded willing to concede that point.
''You guys know, and I know, that he has way more power than me,'' Sanchez said through a translator. ''That's not up for debate here. I don't even think I can hit another ball like that again.''
Sanchez's homer landed just below the scoreboard in left field at Comerica Park, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. New York never looked back. Masahiro Tanaka (9-10) pitched seven tidy innings in his return from the disabled list, allowing three runs and six hits.
It was Tanaka's first appearance since Aug. 9. He'd been out with right shoulder inflammation.
Matthew Boyd (5-7) allowed seven runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Judge singled and walked three times, ending his record-setting streak of 37 games with at least one strikeout.
Aaron Hicks added a homer for the Yankees. Nicholas Castellanos hit two for Detroit, including an inside-the-park homer with two outs in the ninth.
Sanchez and Todd Frazier each had three hits for New York.
Tanaka struck out four without a walk. He threw 90 pitches.
Tanaka didn't allow a baserunner until the third inning. By then, the Yankees already led 7-0. After Sanchez's homer, New York added another run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Austin.
The Yankees scored four more runs in the third. Austin hit an RBI single, and Frazier added a two-run triple. Frazier then scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronald Torreyes.
Ian Kinsler hit an RBI double for Detroit in the third, but the Yankees scored two more runs in the fifth. Hicks hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 11-1.
Castellanos hit a two-run homer in the seventh. Sanchez's two-run drive in the ninth was his 25th home run of the year.
Castellanos circled the bases for an inside-the-park homer after his sinking liner got past a sliding Jacoby Ellsbury in center.
''You'd rather win the game, but that certainly added some entertainment,'' Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. ''Once he gets going, he really moves well on the bases.''
OVER WITH
In the seventh, the Yankees pinch-hit for Judge, ensuring that he would finish the night without a strikeout. Manager Joe Girardi downplayed Judge's unfortunate streak and said he had other reasons for taking him out.
''I don't look at those things. It's not like he sat on his average or something,'' Girardi said. ''I've got to take care of this guy. He plays every day. He played every day in this last 13 days.''
COMMISSIONER AT COMERICA
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred visited the ballpark before the game. He met with Chris Ilitch, who took over the Tigers and Detroit Red Wings when his father died in February. Manfred toured Little Caesars Arena, the new venue that will house the Red Wings and Detroit Pistons this coming season.
''After everything I saw today, including the amazing development projects from the Ilitch family, I am quite confident that the Detroit Tigers and the city of Detroit have a very bright future,'' he said.
As for the recent protest by umpires, who wore wristbands to draw attention to what they saw as unreasonable verbal abuse from players and managers, Manfred said: ''I want to be clear that the protest was a violation of their collective bargaining agreement.''
''We let them know that we intended to enforce our rights under that agreement, but fortunately, we were able to agree on a meeting,'' he added.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: 1B Greg Bird (right ankle), 2B Starlin Castro (right hamstring) and DH Matt Holliday (left lumbar) remained out on rehab assignments.
UP NEXT
Yankees: RHP Luis Severino (10-5) takes the mound Wednesday night against the Tigers. He'll have an extra day of rest because of the team's off day Monday.
Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (7-10) starts for Detroit.
---
This version has been corrected to say that the Yankees scored two runs in the fifth, not the fourth.
---
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
---
Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister