Today in 1988 - Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees

September 11, 1988 – Today in 1988, the Detroit Tigers visited Yankee Stadium to take on the New York Yankees.

The Tigers got on the board first in the top of the 2^nd inning with an RBI double by Tom Brookens.  The Yankees answered in the bottom of the second with a 2 run homerun by Jack Clark.  New York led 2-1.

The Yankees increased their lead with an RBI double by Dave Winfield.  The Yankees now led 3-1.

But Detroit refused to give up.  Fred Lynn hit an RBI single in the top of the 6^th and Alan Trammell hit a solo homerun in the top of the 7^th inning.  The game went to extra innings tied 3-3.

The game went tied until the top of the 18^th when Torey Lovullo hit an RBI single.  The Tigers now led 4-3.

All Detroit had to do was to close out New York.  Willie Hernandez faced Rickey Henderson and walked him.  Then Claudell Washington came to the plate and hit a two run homerun.  The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4.

Steve Shields got the win for the Yankees.  He struck out 2 and went to 4-4.  Willie Hernandez was charged with the loss.  He struck out 2 and fell to 5-5.

Detroit fell to 76-67 with the loss.  They were tied for second in the AL East with the New York Yankees, who improved to 75-66.  Both teams were 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox.

Notables

• There were 3 Hall of Famers playing or managing in this game: manager Sparky Anderson for Detroit, and Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield for New York.
• Sparky Anderson was in his 10^th season managing the Tigers.  He managed the team from 1978-95 and led them to a World Series title in 1984.
• Lou Piniella was in his 3^rd and last season managing the Yankees.  His next assignment came two years later when he managed Anderson’s old team, the Cincinnati Reds, from 1990-92.  Piniella led the Reds to a World Series championship in 1990.  Anderson managed the Reds from 1970-78 and led the team to 2 World Series championships.
• Tiger great Alan Trammell went on to manage the team from 2003-05.  Yes, it’s the same 2003 Detroit Tigers whose record was 43-117.
• Don Mattingly is currently the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  This is his first season as a manager.
• Willie Randolph went on to manage the New York Mets from 2005-08.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees - September 11, 1988.