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Trey Sweeney, Jace Jung debut, but Detroit Tigers bats take night off in 3-0 loss to Yanks
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- Trey Sweeney, Jace Jung debut, but Detroit Tigers bats take night off in 3-0 loss to Yanks
Detroit Tigers shortstop Trey Sweeney, a prospect acquired in the Jack Flaherty trade making his MLB debut, hustled to first base on a ground ball smacked up the middle. The second baseman stopped the ball from getting into the outfield, but he had a wild throw to first, resulting in an infield single.
It was the first big-league hit of Sweeney's career.
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Both Sweeney and third baseman Jace Jung, a fellow prospect, made their MLB debuts in Friday's game against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park, but despite the fresh blood, the Tigers lost, 3-0, in the opener of the three-game series.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak.
Detroit Tigers Trey Sweeney (27) adjusts his helmet as he stands on the mound against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.
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The Tigers (59-64), collecting five hits, finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position; the Yankees weren't much better, finishing 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, though they picked up runs on a sac fly and two solo homers. The Tigers used four relief pitchers, with left-hander Brant Hurter taking down the bulk of the innings.
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Sweeney, 24, finished 1-for-3 with a groundout to first base, a swinging strikeout and an infield single in three plate appearances. Jung, 23, finished 0-for-2 with a seven-pitch walk, a five-pitch walk and back-to-back strikeouts looking in four trips to the plate.
Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole walked Jung in the second and fourth innings, as the newcomer refused to chase a fastball sprayed around the strike zone.
In his first plate appearance, Jung fell into a two-strike count within the first three pitches, but he fouled off an inside slider to stay alive before taking three pitches in a row, capped by two outside fastballs, for an impressive walk to begin his MLB career.
On defense, Sweeney handled all of his plays with ease at shortstop.
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Tigers hitting coach Michael Brdar appeared to be ejected by home plate umpire Cory Blaser after Jung's strikeout in the ninth inning. Both called strikeouts for Jung were on pitches located on the edge of the zone.
Facing Gerrit Cole
Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, tossed six scoreless innings.
The Tigers missed a couple of scoring opportunities.
Sweeney grounded out in the second inning to strand two runners, but not before Zach McKinstry struck out on three pitches. Jung struck out looking in the sixth to strand two runners in scoring position. For the clutch strikeout, Cole painted a high-velocity fastball on the up-and-away edge of the strike zone.
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Cole, who threw 95 pitches, worked around four hits and two walks throughout his six-inning performance, striking out eight. He had three strikeouts in the third inning.
The Tigers also missed a scoring chance in the seventh inning against right-handed reliever Luke Weaver , as Parker Meadows popped out with runners on second and third. Earlier in the seventh, Sweeney collected his first hit — an infield single — off Weaver's middle-middle fastball.
Aaron Judge to the shrubs
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge swings at a pitch against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.
The Yankees scored one run apiece in the first, fifth and eighth innings.
In the eighth, Aaron Judge — the 2022 American League MVP — destroyed a two-strike sinker from Hurter to the shrubs in center field at Comerica Park, producing a no-doubt solo home run. The ball traveled 431 feet with a 110 mph exit velocity.
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Judge has 44 home runs in 121 games.
Hurter allowed two runs on four hits and zero walks with five strikeouts across six innings, throwing 78 pitches.
The Yankees also scored on Alex Verdugo 's sacrifice fly off right-handed reliever Beau Brieske in the first and Oswald Peraza 's solo home run off Hurter's middle-middle sweeper in the fifth.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers struggle at plate in 3-0 loss to New York Yankees
