Missed scoring opportunities cost Detroit Tigers in 2-1 loss to New York Yankees

It started with a single from Riley Greene.

The Detroit Tigers didn't get any big opportunities on offense until the seventh inning, when Greene — one of the best position players in the American League — scored the first run of the game after smacking a leadoff single into right field. Greene, whose 1.4 fWAR ranks fourth among AL outfielders, hit a splitter at the bottom of the strike zone from right-hander Marcus Stroman for his third of three hits.

But some of Greene's teammates struggled at the plate in key moments.

The Tigers grabbed the lead in the seventh but were haunted by missed opportunities in a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Friday's opener of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored both runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against right-handed reliever Jason Foley. The final run scored on Anthony Rizzo's walk-off single through the drawn-in infield, the fourth consecutive hit in the inning.

"One-run games leave you vulnerable to things like the ninth inning happening," manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in New York. "When you look back at close games, it's generally the advantage of the opportunities. They did a run better than we did."

CARLOS MONARREZ: Despite a non-disastrous start, it's way too early to talk playoffs for Detroit Tigers?

The Tigers (18-14) finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The pitching staff, led by right-hander Reese Olson's five scoreless innings, limited the Yankees to just two hits through eight innings, but the Yankees tacked on four hits in the ninth.

The lone run for the Tigers scored on a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning.

After Greene's single, Wenceel Pérez walked on five pitches and Kerry Carpenter walked on eight pitches to keep the pressure on the Yankees. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out for rookie Colt Keith, who battled for eight pitches — fouling off two pitches below the strike zone to stay alive — before working the third consecutive walk and scoring Greene for a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers chased Stroman but failed to put the nail in the coffin. Right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton, who replaced Stroman, struck out Spencer Torkelson on four pitches — putting him away with a down-and-away slider — and got Zach McKinstry to ground out to second base on a first-pitch fastball.

It was a missed opportunity for more runs.

"I would have loved to tack on," Hinch said. "That was kind of the story of the night. We had a couple of different opportunities where he made some pitches, and then at the end, their guys came in and got the big outs. That's the separation we needed as it got closer to the ninth."

Stroman allowed one run on three hits and five walks with three strikeouts across 5⅓ innings.

The Tigers also loaded the bases in the seventh inning with Jake Rogers (single), Greene (single) and Pérez (walk). Pérez walked on four pitches against left-handed reliever Victor González with two outs. Matt Vierling, a right-handed hitter, entered as a pinch-hitter for the left-handed Carpenter, but Vierling grounded into a force out to strand the runners.

It was another missed opportunity.

Greene finished 3-for-4 with one walk, boosting his batting average from .257 to .274 through 32 games this season. Torkelson, who hit out of the sixth spot in the lineup for the second game in a row, continues to struggle. He went hitless in four trips to the plate; his average fell to .212 in 30 games.

Alex Faedo and the bullpen

After Olson's five scoreless innings, the Tigers turned to right-handed reliever Alex Faedo to face the top three batters in the Yankees' lineup in the sixth inning.

He struck out all three of them with his fastball.

"I know he's going to be in and around the strike zone," Hinch said. "The swing and miss is real. He provides a lot, whatever role we choose for him that night. When the phone rings, and his name is called, I'm completely confident he's going to come in ready."

Anthony Volpe struck out swinging on a middle-middle fastball; Juan Soto struck out swinging on a middle-middle fastball; Aaron Judge struck out looking on a down-and-away fastball.

Faedo opened the seventh inning by walking Alex Verdugo, but he bounced back by striking out Giancarlo Stanton looking on a down-and-in slider. Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin took over for a matchup with the left-handed hitting Rizzo, only to walk Rizzo on six pitches.

Chafin, though, induced an inning-ending double play to maintain the Tigers' 1-0 lead.

Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller recorded back-to-back outs in the eighth inning. He walked Volpe, the Yankees' leadoff hitter, to bring up the ever-dangerous Soto, who popped out in a full count to end the threat.

In the ninth, Foley allowed four hits in a row: Judge (single), Verdugo (bunt single), Stanton (RBI double) and Rizzo (RBI single). Stanton hammered Foley's sinker to right field to tie the game; Rizzo poked Foley's down-and-away changeup and snuck the ball past second baseman Andy Ibáñez to win the game.

"A ground-ball base hit, a one-strike bunt and two pretty good at-bats," Hinch said. "In this ballpark, you got to play the whole 27 outs. You never feel comfortable, and they're going to keep fighting. Pretty good inning by them."

Before Rizzo's at-bat, Hinch met with his infielders, catcher and pitcher at the mound to discuss the game plan.

Second baseman Andy Ibáñez started the play in the infield grass in front of the infield dirt, but since he was so close to home plate, he couldn't get his glove on Rizzo's grounder despite diving to his right.

"We had no outs, so we had a mess on our hands," Hinch said. "I just wanted to settle the defense and make sure they knew the ball was going to be on the ground somewhere. ... We needed to play the infield in. It was all or nothing."

Reese Olson's solid start

Olson simply hasn't received enough run support this season.

The Tigers are averaging 2.1 runs per game when Olson starts. That trend continued against the Yankees, but another trend continued, as well: The 24-year-old dominated on the mound to keep the game close despite not getting more than one run of support from the offense.

He threw 88 pitches.

The Yankees tested Olson in the first inning with Volpe's single and Judge's walk. After Vople, Soto grounded into a double play on Olson's changeup below the strike zone. After Judge, Verdugo struck out swinging on Olson's fastball in the strike zone.

Olson cruised through the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

He recorded seven whiffs on 36 swings — a 19.4% whiff rate — with two changeups, four sliders and one sinker. He generated a whopping 20 called strikes with seven fastballs, three changeups, four sliders and six sinkers.

Olson owns a 2.70 ERA in six starts.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers muster just one run in loss to New York Yankees