Jasson Dominguez had never before been to Yankee Stadium, a long-envisioned destination that only existed as a theory and a dream until Tuesday.
In his Bronx debut, the exciting top prospect watched as his team’s veterans guided the way.
On a night earmarked for the youth, it was the aged who came through in a 5-1 victory over the Tigers in front of 31,553 who watched a quartet of veterans produce another victory during a surprise September spurt.
The Yankees (69-69) moved back to .500 with a fourth straight win and their seventh in their past eight games.
The clubhouse has been energized by the presences of Dominguez, Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza, who were all in the lineup, as well as Austin Wells, who received his first day off.
But it was the Cy Young front-runner in Gerrit Cole; a generational slugger in Giancarlo Stanton; a bouncing-back, three-time All-Star in DJ LeMahieu; and the rolling Gleyber Torres who powered the Yankees on another encouraging day.
Cole was effective if not perfect over six, one-run innings in which he scattered eight hits, walked no one and struck out seven.
Seven of those hits were singles, the only exception a leadoff, sixth-inning triple from Kerry Carpenter that was followed by an RBI single from Miguel Cabrera.
Otherwise, Cole again was solid during a season in which he has been better than solid.
He knew when to dial it up and danced his way out of a two-on jam in the fifth by striking out Zach McKinstry and inducing a fly out from Spencer Torkelson.
After another good effort combined with a middling day from Minnesota’s Sonny Gray, Cole owns the lowest ERA among qualified American League starters. Cole’s dropped to 2.90, while Gray’s rose to 2.98.
Stanton ensured Cole would win his 13th game of the season.
In a tie game in the sixth, the slugger blasted a go-ahead, two-run home run that was the 400th of his career, becoming the fourth-fastest in MLB history, in terms of games played, to reach that milestone.
Stanton stepped into a slider from José Cisnero and rocketed it an estimated 451 feet to left-center to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead and give himself a significant piece of baseball history.
It took Stanton 1,520 games to reach No. 400, only beaten by Mark McGwire (1,412), Babe Ruth (1,475) and Alex Rodriguez (1,489).
Stanton, who became the 10th player to accomplish the feat as a Yankee, took a curtain call and lifted his helmet to the fans, who stood and clapped in recognition. Anthony Volpe used a timeout at the plate to give Stanton a bit more time to receive his applause.
Stanton joined a party that LeMahieu had started with a leadoff home run in the first inning, the seventh blast in his past 13 games for a player who has come alive in the second half.
The party was finished by Torres, whose eighth-inning double added the final two runs of the night.
The veterans performed outside of the spotlight, which shined on a 20-year-old wunderkind.
Dominguez finished 1-for-4 with his first Bronx hit — an eighth-inning double into the right-center-field gap — and a couple of fielder’s choices that might not have shown off his bat, but did give fans a glimpse at his speed.
The moment to remember from Dominguez’s home debut might have been his salute to the crowd.
During the Bleacher Creatures’ roll call in the top of the first inning, “The Martian” appeared to confirm he was not from this world.
As the fans in the right-center-field bleachers chanted his name, Dominguez smiled, touched his index fingers together and lifted one finger to the sky — an apparent reference to “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” the 1982 movie about a friendly alien.
Dominguez had reason to keep smiling. He has been in the big leagues for four games and has yet to taste a loss.
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