Foley stumbles vs. Yanks as Tigers waste Olson's gem

NEW YORK -- Despite having problems in the batter’s box, the Tigers were three outs away from victory on Friday night. But Tigers closer Jason Foley was unable to record an out, and it proved costly in a 2-1 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

It was the ninth inning and the Tigers were leading, 1-0. It was Foley’s time to shine. He had been almost lights out for Detroit, having allowed three runs (two earned) in 13 2/3 innings with nine saves going in. But it turned out to be Foley’s first blown save of the season.

After Foley allowed consecutive singles to Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo (on a perfectly placed bunt), Giancarlo Stanton came to the plate. Stanton had struck out three times in his previous three at-bats, but he doubled down the right-field line, scoring Judge and tying the score at 1. Anthony Rizzo then singled through the drawn-in infield into right field, sending Verdugo home with the winning run.

Suddenly, the game was over.

“This ballpark [Yankee Stadium], you have to play the entire 27 outs. You never feel comfortable, and [the Yankees] are going to keep fighting,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Pretty good inning by them, putting it together against a pretty good pitcher.”

The loss meant another no-decision for right-hander Reese Olson, who remains winless in six starts. After pitching five scoreless innings, his ERA improved from 3.18 to 2.70.

“I didn’t feel great. … I was around the zone enough to mix speeds. I was able to be around the zone enough to get outs, “ Olson said.

New York never made any serious threat to score off Olson. In fact, the Yankees had runners in scoring position against him twice, both times with two outs.

“He was awesome,” Hinch said about Olson.”He did everything tonight, whether it was secondary pitches, good finished fastballs. I thought his changeup was pretty good. He was in really good control.”

Detroit has had a tough time scoring runs for Olson this season. The team was shut out twice with Olson on the mound, and in his previous four decisions, the Tigers averaged 1.75 runs per game.

“I wouldn’t say we’re pressing when he starts. We are playing baseball,” Tigers outfielder Riley Greene said. “Reese went out there and pitched very well. We didn’t give him any runs. It is what it is.”

The Tigers didn’t score a lot of runs Friday, either, but they were patient enough in the sixth inning to go ahead.

After Greene singled to lead off, Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman struck out Mark Canha but walked the next three hitters -- Wenceel Pérez, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith -- allowing Greene to score the only run for Detroit.

“We got Stroman out of there by being patient and making sure we didn’t try to do too much,” Hinch said. “We would have loved to tack on. It was kind of the story of the night. We had a couple of different opportunities where he made some pitches and then in the end, their guys came in and got the big outs.”

The seventh was an example of blowing an opportunity. The Tigers had the bases loaded with two out but couldn’t take advantage. With left-hander Victor González on the mound, pinch-hitter Matt Vierling grounded into a forceout to end the threat.

“It’s always tough. The Yankees have a good pitching staff. It’s tough to face these guys because they are good,” Greene said.

Don’t expect to hear Olson complain to the media about not getting enough run support.

“That part of it. I’m sure I’ll have some outings where we are going to put up 10 runs and I give up five and I’ll get the win. It’s just part of baseball,” Olson said.

The Tigers are batting .226 as a team, 22nd in the Major Leagues. They are vulnerable to losing close games like Friday’s if they don’t make improvements in the batter’s box.

“It’s not easy. The Yankees are trying to make pitches,” Hinch said. “The defense played pretty well behind their pitching staff. When you look back at close games, generally it’s who takes advantage of the opportunities, and they made a run better than we did.”