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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The 20 teams competing in the Little League World Series spent an afternoon and evening practicing their skills with players from major league teams.
The Yankees and Tigers also returned the favor with more than nine innings.
But it came at a cost for the Yankees, as Clay Holmes led by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Tigers ultimately prevailed 3-2 off Mark Leiter Jr. in the 10th inning of the Minor League Classic at Bowman Field on Sunday night.
The Yankees regained the lead 2-1 in the top of the tenth inning after DJ LeMahieu hit a single in the first at-bat.
But the Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff single by pinch hitter Zack McKinstry, who then stole a base to second.
That gave him a chance to score on Parker Meadows’ game-winning single to left field, while two errors by Jasson Dominguez on a passed homer cost him a chance to catch McKinstry and extend the game.
The Yankees led 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth after Marcus Stroman struck out Tarik Skubal in six innings.
But with one out, Colt Keith hit a double to left field to start the comeback, and then with two outs, rookie third baseman Jace Jung hit a single to left field to tie the game.
Stroman pitched his best start in two months, tossing six scoreless innings, but the Yankees (73-52) squandered the opportunity and lost the deciding game.
The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out five, and his defense — relay passes from Aaron Judge to Anthony Volpe to Jose Trevino — preserved the shutout.
The Tigers (61-64) held down the Yankees’ offense for much of the weekend.
The only run they scored before extra innings came in the top of the sixth inning when Gleyber Torres, on third base with two outs, raced home on a Skubal slider that went past catcher Jake Rogers.
Skubal is a bad combination for the Yankees — he’s one of the best pitchers in the league, but he’s a left-hander, and the Yankees have struggled against lefties for much of the season.
Although Skubal was in control, the Yankees got some long hits early on, which helped Skubal rack up his pitch count and forced him out of the game after six innings and 100 pitches.
Dominguez was called into the game as the fifth batter in the 27th against Skubal and started in left field, going hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Stroman is far more efficient than Skubal.
Earlier this month, the Yankees took advantage of a rain delay and inserted Stroman back into the rotation, giving him a few extra days to work on his pitching mechanics in bullpen sessions.
Prior to that, he had a 6.32 ERA in his last 10 starts, but he pitched five innings against the Rangers last weekend, allowing just one run, then went one better on Sunday.
Stroman’s defense helped him keep the shutout alive in the bottom of the fifth inning. Chung was at first base with two outs when leadoff hitter Meadows hit a double into the left-center field gap.
Judge tracked the ball down the warning track and got it to Volpe, who passed it to Trevino, who easily knocked Jung out after errantly sending the ball back to home plate.
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