Yankeemetrics: Hello, dingers (June 19-21)

For everything you need to know about A-Rod’s 3,000th hit, be sure to check out my AROD3K By The Numbers post from the weekend.

Thanks Brett and Adam. Yours truly, Al From Miami
Friday night belonged to A-Rod and his dramatic 3,000th hit, but it was Brett Gardner and Adam Warren who made sure that the historic milestone would be celebrated along with a Yankees win over the Tigers.

Gardner sparked the Yankees offense from the top of the lineup, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. He’s the first Yankee leadoff batter to drive in at least three runs and have four hits against the Tigers since Steve Sax in 1989.

Adam Warren pitched a career-high eight innings and allowed just two runs to pick up his fifth win of the season. He’s now 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA at home this season and has allowed two runs or fewer in each of those six games. Only three other Yankees in the last 100 seasons have given up no more than two runs in each of their first six home starts of a season: Brandon McCarthy (2014), David Cone (1997) and Red Ruffing (1939).

Blast from the past
Perhaps inspired by the Old Timers’ Day celebration during which the Yankees paid tribute to many of their former players and legends, the current Yankees reminded everyone how they got their Bronx Bombers nickname by crushing the Tigers, 14-3.

The Yankees hit five homers in a game for the third time this season, matching the total number of five-homer games they had in the last two years combined. It was just the second time in the past 100 years they hit five homers against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, along with a six-homer outburst on May 24, 2005.

Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate for the 12th time in his career, one behind the record set by teammate Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher. The 38-year-old Beltran also was just one day shy of tying Eddie Murray as the oldest player to homer from both sides of plate in a game.

A-Rod also went deep for his 3,001st hit and had a season-high five RBI on the night. It was his 29th career game with five-or-more RBIs, tying Sammy Sosa for the third-most all-time. The only players with more are Lou Gehrig (41) and Manny Ramirez (34).

Tigers’ revenge
The Yankees got a taste of their own medicine on Sunday afternoon, as the Tigers blasted five home runs en route to a 12-4 beating of the home team. It was the first time ever that the Tigers hit five home runs at Yankee Stadium.

J.D. Martinez delivered three of those longballs for Detroit, becoming the first Tigers player to hit three homers against the Yankees since Charlie Maxwell in 1959. Martinez hit a solo homer, two-run homer and three-run homer, giving him six RBIs in the game.

The last player with at least six RBIs and three home runs against the Yankees was Ken Griffey Jr. on May 24, 1996 in Seattle. Before Martinez, the last visiting player to do that in the Bronx was a fella named Mr. Bo Jackson on July 17, 1990.

In one of the worst outings of his career, Masahiro Tanaka tied career-highs in hits (10) and runs allowed (7) as his ERA ballooned from 2.49 to 3.17. His losing effort ended an incredible run by the team’s rotation over the past three weeks at Yankee Stadium. Prior to Tanaka’s disaster against the Tigers, Yankee starters had been 10-0 with a 2.29 ERA in their previous 12 games in the Bronx.

Stephen Drew’s bizarre season continued as he hit his 10th and 11th homers of the season, raising his batting average all the way up to .188. Looking ahead … the lowest batting average for any Yankee with more than 10 homers in a season is .192, by Steve Balboni in 1990.

Brian McCann hit his 10th homer of the season, reaching that milestone for the 10th time in 10 seasons played. He is now the only catcher in baseball history with at least 10 homers in each of his first 10 major-league seasons. That deserves a Big Bravo, Brian.