DETROIT — Whether he was most frustrated by his inability to retire leadoff hitters, the Tigers finding some holes on him, or a pair of in-game delays, the problem was that Gerrit Cole had options.
The Yankees did, too.
On a third straight day when their offense was held in check, Cole got hit around more than he had all season as the Yankees dropped their third straight in a rough 5-3 loss to the Tigers on Monday night at Comerica Park.
Cole, who came into the night holding opposing hitters to a .196 batting average in his first five starts back from Tommy John surgery, got tagged for nine hits and five runs across 4 ¹/₃ innings.
He allowed the leadoff batter to reach in all five innings, including a home run in the fifth to Riley Greene, as the Tigers (34-44) raced out to a 5-1 lead.
Tigers lefty Framber Valdez, meanwhile, suffocated the Yankees (46-31) after they squandered some early chances, retiring the final 10 batters he faced across six innings.
Amed Rosario belted a two-run shot in the seventh inning to pull the Yankees within 5-3, but that was as close as they would get.
The Yankees threatened by putting a pair of runners on base with two outs in the eighth inning, but the Tigers brought in Will Vest — a possible trade deadline candidate for the Yankees — who struck out Jasson Domínguez and then retired the side in the ninth.
Cole was initially scheduled to start on Sunday, but the Yankees bumped him to Monday while inserting Elmer Rodríguez as a spot starter to give each member of their rotation an extra day’s rest during a stretch of 16 games in 16 days (and with the long season in mind).
But in the short term, that backfired on Sunday, when Rodríguez gave up three runs in four innings, and Cole wasn’t any sharper on Monday.
Besides the actual loss, the Yankees may have suffered another when Ali Sánchez left the game in the seventh inning after getting drilled on the right wrist with a 98 mph fastball.
The catcher, who drove in the Yankees’ first run with an RBI double in the second inning, looked to be in serious pain.
Sánchez had snapped the Yankees’ 0-for-23 drought with runners in scoring position, a big reason for their two losses to the Reds over the weekend.
But the Tigers took the lead for good in the third inning, which Zach McKinstry led off with a triple to the gap that left fielder José Caballero was unable to cut off before it bounced all the way to the wall.
McKinstry came in to score on a groundout that tied the game before the Tigers restarted a rally with a single and a walk.
Spencer Torkelson then blooped a single to center that made it a 2-1 game before Cole left an 0-2 fastball down the middle to Colt Keith, who lined it for a single and the 3-1 lead.
After a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, a six-minute delay ensued as an infield dirt camera in front of second base became exposed.
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Jazz Chisholm Jr. tried to cover it up with dirt, but the grounds crew eventually came out to handle matters as Cole threw warmup pitches.
Cole retired the next batter before stud rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle slapped a double to left field.
Caballero fielded it off the short wall but then hesitated on the throw and misfired home, his throw tipping off Rosario’s glove and bouncing to the backstop as the Tigers went up 4-1.
Cole faced a shorter delay in the fifth inning as umpires reviewed a catcher’s interference against Sánchez on a check swing.
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