The New York Yankees entered the seventh inning tied with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. But by the time New York came up to bat in the bottom half of the frame, the game was all but over.
The Yankees allowed nine runs on five hits, five walks and a hit-by-pitch in the seventh to Detroit. And relievers Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. made unwanted franchise history in the process—becoming the first pair of Yankees pitchers to allow four-plus runs and get zero outs in a game, per Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
Adding insult to injury, New York (80-64) also dropped a game in the AL East after the Toronto Blue Jays (83-61) secured a come-from-behind, extra-inning win over the Houston Astros.
Actually it is the first time in franchise history the Yankees had 2 PITCHERS allowed 4+ ER and get 0 outs in a game. (h/t @CharlieRGa) https://t.co/vyEEgmbP3X
— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) September 10, 2025
The Yankees' historic collapse
A leadoff ground-rule double by the Tigers’ Riley Greene spiraled into a nine-run seventh inning. Cruz allowed all five baserunners he faced to reach and finished with this horrendous stat line: five earned runs on two hits and three walks without recording an out.
Leiter Jr. then entered and didn’t do much better—yielding four runs on two hits and one walk. The inning had no end in sight until Tim Hill came in and rescued the Yankees from the frame. But the damage was already done.
“I haven’t seen anything like that before,” said starter Will Wade (h/t The Athletic), who tossed six innings of two-run ball.
According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, New York became just the second MLB team in the last 75 years to have two relievers allow four-plus runs without recording an out, joining the 1999 Anaheim Angels.
Cruz reflected on his outing postgame:
“This is a sport that, as you see, is not as easy as it looks. Sometimes, you’re on top of the horse. Sometimes, you get out of it. So you learn how to get on top again. It’s something that happens in baseball. You always learn from failures.”
With October around the corner, the Yankees bullpen will have to be better. Otherwise, an early playoff exit could be on the horizon.