Luke Voit irked by Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez in Yankees' loss
Luke Voit of the Yankees reacts after he was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning against the Tigers on at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Aaron Boone posted a lineup on Tuesday that did not include Gary Sanchez, Troy Tulowitzki or Gred Bird. The way bodies have been dropping around the Yankees lately, the question had to be asked:
Are they OK?
Turned out those three just got the night off. But Luke Voit was hit on the back of the left hand with a 96-mile per hour fastball in the eighth inning and had to have X-rays after the Yankees’ 3-1 loss to the Tigers before 32,018 at chilly Yankee Stadium.
Voit’s X-rays were negative, but the burly slugger said he was “[ticked] off” to be hit and also at what he perceived as unprofessional antics by the pitcher who hit him, Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez.
After getting plunked, Voit was on first base in a 1-1 game when Gleyber Torres lined a shot back to Jimenez, who plucked it out of the air for an out. Voit was on his way to second base, so all Jimenez had to do was throw the ball to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
Instead, Jimenez ran all the way to first and hopped on the bag with a spin move for the unassisted DP.
Asked what he was mad about, Voit said: “That’s the second time I’ve been hit in that area this year already. I get it — they’re trying to pitch up and in, but especially with all the injuries going on, it’s just frustrating because I could have been the guy that's No. [10] on the [injured] list. And I get it — he’s not trying to do it on purpose, but you never know what can happen and it’s just frustrating.”
Asked if the way Jimenez completed the double play upset him, Voit said: “Yeah. A little bit.” And when asked if he thought Jimenez was showing him up, Voit said: “Yeah.”
Overall, it was a frustrating night for the Yankees, who watched the Tigers break a 1-1 tie with two ninth-inning runs against Aroldis Chapman. Detroit is 3-3 despite scoring nine runs in six games.
Chapman, who hit 100 mph once and averaged 97 on his fastball in his second game in two nights, issued a one-out walk to pinch hitter Niko Goodrum and gave up a go-ahead double to left to Dustin Peterson on a 95-mph heater.
If you’ve never heard of Peterson, you’re not alone: it was the 24-year-old’s 10th big-league at-bat and first hit and RBI.
The Yankees could have potentially had a play at the plate, but leftfielder Mike Tauchman badly overthrew the cutoff man after fielding the ball off the wall. Jordy Mercer later made it 3-1 with a two-out, RBI single.
Boone’s batting order included a 6-7-8-9 of Tauchman, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade and Austin Romine. It’s not a shock that the Yankees are having trouble scoring runs with Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar having joined Aaron Hicks on the injured list on Monday.
Still, Aaron Judge said, “It happens. Guys have got to step up. That’s all it is. Step up and fill those roles.”
With a chance to step up, the fill-in Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth against Tigers closer Shane Greene. DJ LeMahieu hit a fly ball to left. Tauchman grounded out to short. Frazer hit a fly ball to right.
That trio combined for the Yankees’ run as they took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a chilly night (45 degrees at game time) against Jordan Zimmermann. LeMahieu singled with one out and moved to third when Tauchman lofted a ground-rule double to left for his first hit as a Yankee. Frazier followed with a sacrifice fly to left.
Masahiro Tanaka kept that lead intact until the sixth, when the Tigers tied it on back-to-back two-out doubles by Jeimer Candelario and John Hicks.
Tanaka went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run and eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Zimmermann also went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run and six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
