Detroit — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, one of the biggest stars in the game who was fresh off becoming the fastest major-leaguer ever to reach 300 home runs, received a raucous ovation from a large Comerica Park crowd Friday night when he stepped to the plate for the first time.
He then got an even louder reception seven innings later when he crushed a ball to Miguel Cabrera territory, the ivy in dead center field, to headline a 3-0 win over the Tigers.
The fans didn't all rise, but a whole lot of them did.
Close behind in the welcome-to-town cheers department Friday night were Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney, a pair of highly-acclaimed Tigers prospects who got the callup from Triple-A Toledo late Thursday night and were thrust right into the starting lineup Friday night, and manning the left side of the infield, in making their MLB debuts, side by side.
There was a noticeable buzz in the ballpark on this comfortable late-summer evening, as Tigers brass gave fans a significant pitch that the future is bright, and in large part, the future is now, or at least in 2025. Harris, manager AJ Hinch and Co. are slowly but surely handing the car keys over to the kids, following the better part of a decade as rebuilders.
"We have a lot to achieve in the remaining six weeks, and these guys have earned the right to develop at this level," said Scott Harris, the Tigers' president of baseball operations, who did three half-innings on the Bally Sports Detroit game broadcast Friday night. "This team needs to learn how to win at this level.
"We have to live at the intersection of development and winning, and these guys have to learn how to get better at this level.
"We've gotta finish strong with this group, as individuals getting better, but also as a team."
Jung and Sweeney did just fine Friday night, but the team not so much, unable to muster any late-inning magic like the previous two games in dropping the opener of a series that has begun in Detroit and will end Sunday night in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, when these two teams play in MLB's Little League Classic.
The Tigers' four-game winning streak came to an end, while the Yankees improved to 4-0 against the Tigers in 2024.
BOX SCORE: Yankees 3, Tigers 0
A crowd of 36,224, the fourth-largest home crowd of the season, took this one in, among them dozens of friends and family of Sweeney and Jung.
Sweeney, a shortstop acquired late last month in the trade that sent starting pitcher Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers, picked up his first hit against a Yankees team that drafted him in the first round in 2021 — an infield single in the seventh inning (on a scoring decision he called a "generous"), for a 1-for-3 night in which he grounded out in his first at-bat with two on and two out in the second, and struck out swinging in the fifth.
"It's all happened really fast, honestly," said Sweeney, who traveled to Detroit with Jung from Charlotte, North Carolina, where they go the news while in the cage before Thursday's game. "Was with the Yankees last season and then traded in December, and now traded here. So yeah, it's kind of a whirlwind, but it's been fun."
Jung, a third baseman who was the Tigers' first-round pick in 2022 and is ranked the organization's No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, went hitless, but did draw two walks (we're not sure if those balls go on the mantle), including on impressive seven-pitch battle after falling behind 0-2. He also struck out twice, both times looking, on very borderline but probably correct calls — the one in the ninth inning earning someone an ejection, but Hinch wouldn't say who. (It wasn't Hinch or Jung; perhaps hitting coach Michal Brdar?)
Jung, the brother of Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung — after the game, Jace was shown a congratulations video message from Josh ("that's awesome," Jace said) — was thrown out trying to steal in the fourth. The call was overturned on replay.
"We have him here for a lot of reasons," Harris said on the broadcast, before quipping, "I don't know if he's gonna lead the league in stolen bases."
Said Jung: "I said, 'Oh, God, make it.' I didn't make it, you know. I thought I was in there, but after the replay, I didn't know whether to stay out here, because I knew I was out."
On defense, Sweeney handled seven plays without issue a shortstop, and Jung two.
"They played under control and did their part," Hinch said. "All in all, I think, you know, anytime you can do positive things (in your MLB debut), you can walk away probably exhausted and proud at the same time."
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The Tigers managed just five hits Friday — which actually was two more than they had in Thursday's win — being shut out for the 12th time this season. They had some one- and two-out threats against Yankees starter Gerritt Cole (4-2), but Cole worked around it each time and got through six innings relatively easily, allowing four hits while walking two (Jung twice) and striking out eight in probably his best start of an injury-shortened season. Cole's career ERA against the Tigers dipped to 1.84 in 83 innings, with a 0.99 WHIP.
"He's a thinking man's pitcher," Hinch said of Cole. "He never really gives in. You know, he pitches to a game plan. He was very stubborn with it."
Clay Holmes worked a perfect ninth for his 26th save.
The Yankees struck quickly in the first off yet another opener, Beau Briske (1-3), who gave up a leadoff single to Gleyber Torres leading off the game. He went to second when Parker Meadows misplayed it in center field. Juan Soto then singled, and after Judge lined out sharply to right and Giancarlo Stanton walked, Alex Verdugo hit a sacrifice fly to left.
Brenan Hanifee relieved Briske to start the second and threw two hitless innings, before Brant Hurter relieved him and allowed solo homers to No. 9 hitter Oswald Peraza in the fifth inning (398 feet to left) and Judge in the eighth (431 feet to center). Hurter went six innings, and other than two mistakes, Hinch said, "I thought he was incredible" against a tough lineup. Judge's homer was No. 44 on the season; Peraza's was No. 1.
Unlike the late-inning wins Wednesday and Thursday, there was nothing doing early and late Friday for the Tigers. Besides, you know, a glimpse of a future that could be quite bright, if not overly on display this night.
"They aren't finished products, they aren't," Harris said on the Bally broadcast, of Jung and Sweeney, who are expected to get the bulk of the starts down the stretch. "You're gonna watch them get better."
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984