Tigers complete rare sweep of Yankees
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Detroit Tigers overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit to beat the Yankees 8-4 on Thursday and complete their first three-game sweep of the Bronx Bombers in New York in 42 years.
Ramon Santiago, making his first start of the season at shortstop, slashed a two-run triple in the sixth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and Miguel Cabrera drove a two-run, opposite field homer to right in the seventh to lift the Tigers to victory.
Detroit left-hander Nate Robertson recovered from a three-run homer he yielded to Bobby Abreu in the first to go five and two-thirds innings for the win and improve to 1-3.
Rookie right-hander Ian Kennedy failed to protect the early 3-0 lead, giving up four runs in the third keyed by a two-run double by Magglio Ordonez and a run-scoring triple by Cabrera.
Reliever Jonathan Albaladejo (0-1) took the loss.
Detroit, pre-season favorites in the American League Central, are beginning to roll after an 0-7 start. The win lifted the Bengals' record to 14-15.
New York dropped to 14-16 but Yankee captain Derek Jeter at least reached a milestone.
When he crossed the plate in the fifth inning to make it 4-4, it was the shortstop's 1,390th run, tying him for fourth on the team's all-time list with Joe DiMaggio.
STRESS FRACTURE
The Yankees said tests on injured pitcher Phil Hughes, placed on the disabled list on Wednesday, had showed a stress fracture of a rib that would probably sideline him until July.
That made the 23-year-old Kennedy's failure to hold the Tigers down sting even more since the team was counting on him to contribute.
"Again, he doesn't get through the fifth inning and that's tough," Yankee manager Joe Girardi told reporters. "You can't continue to do that because it kills your bullpen.
"He's still having that inning he's having a hard time closing out. He's not giving us the distance we need. This game isn't easy and you have to be able to make adjustments on the fly.
"You start going through a lineup a second time, a third time, you have to start reading their swings and how they are attacking you and make adjustments."
(Writing by Larry Fine; Editing by Ed Osmond)
