By Zachary McMahon-
The New York Yankees played the Detroit Tigers in the 2024 Little League Classic at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA on Sunday night. This is the seventh annual Little League Classic, as both the teams made their debut with the Little League participants in the audience including the team representing Staten Island which won the Metro regional.
The first two games of the three-game series were at Comerica Park in Detroit, as the teams are split, as both have won by shutout, as the Yankees won 3-0 on Friday, and the Tigers won 4-0 on Saturday.
Jaason Dominguez was the 27th man for the Yankees, while Riley Greene was activated from the 10-day injured list.
Marcus Stroman tossed six innings for the Yankees as he only allowed four hits and two walks, while striking out five. Tarik Skubal pitched six innings for the Tigers and he allowed one run on three hits and four walks while also striking out five.
There was no score until Gleyber Torres walked, and then went to third on a double play grounded by Aaron Judge. While Giancarlo Stanton was at the plate, Skubal threw a wild pitch that brought Torres home in the sixth. Stanton ended up walking in the at-bat, and Jaason Dominguez grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Stanton had now reached safely in 21 out of the last 24 games and Torres has reached in the last 14 games
Colt Keith doubled in the ninth , and then Spencer Torkelson struck out for the second out, but that wouldn’t stop Jace Jung from bringing home Keith to tie the game at one.
DJ Lemahieu led off with an RBI single that brought home Anthony Volpe, and then Zack McKinstry did the same thing in the bottom half for the Tigers, bringing home Trey Sweeney to tie the game. Parker Meadows brought home McKinstry as he walked-off the Yankees in the 3-2 victory. Meadows walked off for the second time in his career as he famously his a walk-off home run for his first career homer on August 25th last season, and it was the fifth walk-off loss the Yankees has suffered this season. This was the Tigers third walk-off win in the month of August, as four days ago Akil Badoo hit a walk-off double against the Seattle Mariners, and on August 3 Wenceel Perez hit a walk-off single that brought home Meadows against the Kansas City Royals. Overall it’s the sixth walk-off win for the Tigers this season, and their fifth since July 13.
LeMathieu brought in his 300th RBI, and Juan Soto played in his 900th major league game. Aaron Judge extended his seven-game hitting streak and his nine-game on-base streak with a single in the fourth.
The Tigers had six players who started who were age 24 or younger, as it was the first time since May 25, 2015 that the Tigers had six players under the age of 25, and it also previously happened on September 30, 1978. They were Meadows, Greene, Keith, Torkelson, Jung, and Sweeney.
Jung had reached base multiple times in each of his first three career games as he singled and walked, he’s the first Tiger to accomplish this feat since Greene did this in the first four games of his career in 2022, which is tied for the longest to start a career in Tigers history.
Colt Keith went 3-for-5 as he hit his 100th career hit as a single in the sixth, he’s had multiple hits in each of the last five games with a hit.
Will Vest made his first appearance since last Wednesday, as he pitched the eighth inning, as he has reached 200 career innings, as he struck out the side and he is only four strikeouts away from 200.
It was announced that next season, the New York Mets will play the Seattle Mariners on August 17, 2025. It would be the second appearance for the Mets as they won the 2018 edition against the Philadelphia Phillies 8-2. The Mets will join Pennsylvania teams the Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates as the three teams who have made multiple appearances in the Little League Classic.
The Yankees will take a travel day on Monday to go back to Yankee Stadium to face the Cleveland Guardians, starting on Tuesday at 7:05 pm first pitch. Lucas Gil will go up against Matthew Boyd in the series opener.
The Tigers will travel to Chicago to face the Cubs at Wrigley Field for a three-game series on Tuesday at 8:05 pm. The Tigers have not announced starters for all three matchups in the series at the time of writing.
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