Not as close as it felt.

Yankees 7, Tigers 2

This one kicked off with A-Rod making history, delivering his 3,000th hit via a home run against Justin Verlander (2 GS, 11.2 IP, 6.17 ERA, 7.64 FIP), but the Tigers took the lead on a Bryan Holaday single in the 2nd. The lead wouldn’t last, however, as the Yankee home run and hit parade snuck up on us. Verlander didn’t seem out of sorts but wound up allowing six runs while striking out just two in 6.2 innings. The dingers weren’t smacked and Verlander wasn’t erratic, but the results didn’t come and it counts as a loss all the same. They’ll try to regroup behind Alfredo Simon (12 GS, 76.2 IP, 2.58 ERA, 3.47 FIP) on Saturday.

The Moment: Holaday cashes in a pair.