Yankees’ matching mess: Pitching, hitting woes collide in Detroit defeat

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The New York Yankees roared into the season as baseball’s offensive juggernaut. But just days into April, their explosive attack has vanished—replaced by dormant bats, missed opportunities, and a deflating three-game slide culminating in Tuesday’s 5-0 blanking by the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Record-breaking bats go ice cold

The Yankees’ first eight games weren’t merely impressive—they were legendary. They dominated MLB with 25 homers, setting an all-time record through that stretch. Their 72 runs matched the second-best mark in team history over comparable games, while they topped the league in OPS (1.011), wRC+ (180), and extra-base hits (43).

Aaron Judge had blasted six homers, tracking toward an unthinkable 122 for the season—numbers that sparked conversations about potential history unfolding in the Bronx.

But the fireworks have fizzled. Over their three-game slide, the Yankees have scratched out just six runs—all coming in isolated bursts, including a late-game push in Pittsburgh that ultimately fell short. The home run well has run dry during this stretch. What was once a thunderous attack has become barely audible.

Skubal silences Yankees’ offense

Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, last year’s American League Cy Young recipient, orchestrated Tuesday’s shutdown with surgical precision. The southpaw dissected New York’s lineup across six scoreless frames, recording six strikeouts while surrendering just four hits without issuing a walk. Following first-inning singles to Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice, Skubal retired 16 consecutive batters.

“He’s as good as it gets,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Pressuring him early like that, you hope you cash in there, but it’s also what makes him really, really good. I thought he was tough today. Thought his fastball was good, but he’s so unpredictable. He can throw that changeup or drop in a slider at any point and again, you see that delivery and the deception that he creates with it, it just makes him hard to track. He had a good day against us today.”

After Skubal’s departure, lefty Brant Hurter sealed the victory with three clean innings, yielding just two hits as the Yankees failed to mount any meaningful challenge.

Carrasco struggle come to fore

Meanwhile, Carlos Carrasco endured another rough outing. The 38-year-old veteran surrendered four runs across 4.1 innings, including a disastrous fourth inning where Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry, and Dillon Dingler all connected for home runs. Kerry Carpenter later added a fourth blast off reliever Ryan Yarbrough.

“Obviously they stung some balls against him,” Boone said. “It’s imperative that he really commands. His secondary, all of it, he’s gotta have that elite command. He doesn’t have a lot of margin. … Probably just too many in the heart that they were able to take advantage of.”

Carrasco, who secured a rotation spot after an impressive spring, now sports a concerning 7.71 ERA through three starts. He admitted he hasn’t recaptured his Grapefruit League form.

“We just learn from it,” Carrasco said. “I learned something today. I need to be a little bit more specific in the pitches, all the locations, especially. I’m just getting there.”

Boone feigns optimism amid struggles

Despite the dramatic production drop, Boone resists hitting the panic button. When questioned about the offensive peaks and valleys, he challenged the notion of a significant slump.

“I don’t know if I see highs and lows,” Boone said. “I mean, we haven’t scored the last two days. We scored three or four or five and people talk about it as a low. I don’t know that that is. That’s just not reality. It’s a tough game to hit.”

Still, he conceded that his team has been “shut down” over the last three games. Between Heaney in Pittsburgh, Casey Mize on Monday, and Skubal on Tuesday, opposing starters have combined for 19 innings of two-run baseball, striking out 22 Yankees in the process.

“Last day in Pittsburgh, Heaney shut us down I felt like a lot in those middle innings before we were able to rally late,” Boone said. “[On Monday], I thought we had good at-bats. We didn’t put the points on the board. Didn’t chase Mize, but I thought like we had the right at-bats going. Today, Skubal got a lead and just beat us, period. It’s gonna happen.”

Early gut check for Bronx Bombers

While Judge and Goldschmidt remain lineup cornerstones, other contributors have cooled. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells, instrumental in the Yankees’ fast break from the gate, have seen their production taper off. The absence of consistent offense beyond the stars has highlighted a potential weakness—particularly against elite pitching that can silence the lineup’s middle and lower sections.

The Yankees aim to salvage the series Wednesday and avoid the broom. Detroit sends Jack Flaherty to the hill, a familiar adversary whom New York tagged for three homers during last October’s World Series. Max Fried takes the mound for the Yankees, getting his first opportunity to serve as the team’s anchor in Gerrit Cole’s absence.

“Hopefully we come out and get Max some runs and have a good trip home,” Boone said.

Fried could play a critical role in stabilizing the team’s momentum before they return to the Bronx.

The Yankees have plummeted from record-setting offensive heights to three straight losses including a shutout. While such cold spells occur throughout every season, a team with championship aspirations and limited rotation depth needs to prove this is merely a temporary setback rather than the beginning of a troubling pattern.

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