Aaron Judge got the offense started in the first inning with a 412 foot solo blast of Tigers starter Casey Mize. It was Judge’s 44th of the season and 359th of his career, passing Yogi Berra for sole possession of fifth place on the all-time Yankee Home Run list.

The Yankees offense did not muster another baserunner until the fourth inning, when Cody Bellinger hit a two-run home run into the second deck in right field. It was Bellinger’s 28th home run of the season, adding to his productive season for the Yankees this year.

Will Warren had retired eleven straight hitters before walking Spencer Torkelson to lead off the top of the fifth inning, leading to a game-tying two-run home run off the bat of Parker Meadows on a high fastball. It was Meadows’ fourth home run of the season, and more importantly gave the Tigers life in the fifth inning.

The Yankees actually had an opportunity to score some runs without a home run, but they waisted it. Jazz and Wells lead off the fifth inning with back-to-back singles off Mize, setting the Yankees up. Volpe then attempted to bunt, but popped the ball up, not advancing the runners. McMahon then struck out and Grisham — up 3-0 in the count with Judge on deck — flew out to center and end the inning.

Will Warren’s Final Line: 6.0 IP | 2 H | 2 ER | 5 K | 1 BB | 91-59 P/S | 4.22 ERA

Fernando Cruz was the first out of the bullpen for the Yankees, and did not record an out. He issued a leadoff double and two walks, loading the bases with no outs. A Meadows single and a Dingler RBI walk later, the Tigers lead 4-2. This was Cruz’s worst outing since returning from the IL, but the question needs to be asked why he was left in as long as he was, because of how clear it was that he did not have his best stuff.

Mark Leiter Jr. did not have it either in case you were wondering. He did get some tough luck on this “single” that Volpe should have caught, but the wild pitches, RBI walks, RBI hit batsman and the RBI triple are fully on him. Leiter was the second Yankee reliever to not record an out.

Tim Hill then came on in relief of Leiter and Cruz and actually pitched well. Hill allowed only an infield single during the inning, but an RBI groundout scored one of Leiter’s. inherited runners.

After the Yankees offense did not show a sign of life in the bottom of the seventh inning, Austin Slater replaced Judge in right field and Paul Blackburn had the eighth inning. Blackburn allowed one unearned run — due to a throwing error by Ryan McMahon — in two innings of work. He was probably the best reliever of the night for the Yankees.

Though it’s easy to point to the bullpen performance, the offense in this game was horrible. The Yankees recorded just two runs today, both before the fifth inning on solo home runs by Judge and Bellinger.

Anthony Volpe was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a bunt pop-up. He also had a costly defensive play.