The Yankees headed to Cleveland Wednesday night much later than expected — and no doubt eager to leave The Bronx.
After a needless one-hour and 26-minute rain delay — when it wasn’t raining — and a three-hour and 11-minute stoppage after it began pouring following the seventh inning, the Yankees lost to the Tigers, 2-0.
A homestand that began with five straight wins ended with three losses in the final four games.
The defeat was more bitter than most thanks to the interminable length of the day.
“I don’t know what the thought process is on that,” Chase Headley said of the first delay, when both teams watched cloudy — but not rainy — skies. “Obviously, that’s not our decision.”
No, it was Major League Baseball’s. According to the league, it was “made after consulting with the Yankees based on the forecast.”
Manager Joe Girardi said the forecast called for heavy rain at game time, which didn’t come.
“It seems like that happens more than it should,” Headley said of delays when there is no rain. “Obviously, they’re trying to make the best decision.”
It ended up being a messy afternoon and evening at the Stadium, though both teams agreed the proper decision was made when the game resumed in the top of the eighth, despite the lengthy second delay.
“The Yankees are certainly in the thick of a race, so probably the fair thing to do is finish it if you can,” Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said.
When they did, the Yankees’ offensive woes continued.
A day after going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position in a loss to the Tigers, the Yankees went 0-for-9 on Wednesday and were shut out for the second time this season. With the Red Sox rained out, the Yankees dropped to a game back in the division.
In the third inning, the Yankees had Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury on second and third with one out against Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann (7-8), but Aaron Judge struck out and Gary Sanchez grounded to third.
Judge and Sanchez opened the bottom of the sixth with a single and a double to set up another potential breakthrough before Didi Gregorius and Matt Holliday popped out and Headley whiffed.
“Our pitchers are pitching extremely well and right now we’re not swinging the bat,” Girardi said. “And it’s not just one guy. We’ve got to get it going.”
The Yankees wasted a solid performance by Masahiro Tanaka (8-10), who gave up two runs — one earned — in six innings.
The lineup had another opportunity when play resumed following the second delay.
The grounds crew worked on the field for over an hour, with a handful of them using pitchforks to help drain much of the soaked outfield with Girardi, Ausmus and umpires sloshing nearby.
Play resumed at 8 p.m. and when Dellin Betances finally took the mound to begin the eighth, he struck out the side on nine pitches, much to the delight of the 2,000 or so fans who stuck around for the final two innings.
Ellsbury singled to start the bottom of the eighth and stole second, but was stranded there again.
Tanaka allowed hits to the first three batters he faced and Detroit took a 1-0 lead, but the Tigers scored just once more, when Tanaka was hurt by an error by Ellsbury in center that led to an unearned run. And the Yankees couldn’t recover.
“We’ve got to find a way to get the situational hitting, whether it’s hitting a ground ball or a sac fly,” Headley said. “As a group, we haven’t done that very well lately. Quite frankly, that probably cost us at least a game, maybe two.”
Chasing the Red Sox in the AL East, those are games the Yankees can’t afford to give away.