Tigers’ thrilling takedown of Yankees buried worrisome pregame lineup scratch

The Tigers' 12-2 win over the Yankees on Tuesday night was an absolute wonder of a game. Detroit fell to a 2-0 deficit when Aaron Judge passed Yogi Berra on the Yankees' all-time home run leaderboard in the first, and then Cody Bellinger hit a nuke off of Casey Mize in the fourth. However, Parker Meadows evened the score with a two-run shot in the fifth.

Mize rebounded and pitched his second solid outing in a row, but the Yankees absolutely imploded. Starter Will Warren was pulled after an outing that resembled Mize's — six innings, two earned runs — and Fernando Cruz took over on the mound for the seventh.

And then it all happened. The Tigers cycled through their entire lineup before the Yankees recorded a single out in the inning. A total of nine runs scored and three Yankees relievers were used before New York could get out of the inning.

It was the most fun Tigers' victory that fans have seen in a while, but it obscured a worrisome scratch from the lineup ahead of the game. Zach McKinstry was supposed to bat seventh and post up at shortstop, but he was removed with upper back stiffness and replaced by Trey Sweeney.

Zach McKinstry scratched from Tigers' Tuesday lineup with upper back stiffness

AJ Hinch said after the game that the move was cautionary, but he reported discomfort after warmups earlier that afternoon. Clearly, the Tigers didn't need McKinstry to win that game, but fans will want to stay eagle-eyed on the news around him if he doesn't resurface in the lineup for Wednesday night's game.

McKinstry has been one of the Tigers' hottest hitters over his last 15 games. He's batting .313 with a .903 OPS, a homer, and eight RBI. He's ebbed and flowed a bit throughout the season, but has overall come out on the other end as one of the Tigers' most consistent bats and got his first career All-Star nod as a result. This would've been incomprehensible for fans this time last season.

The Tigers have always loved him for how versatile he is on defense first and foremost, and a single substitute turn at first base this season gave him at least two major league innings at every position on the field other than catcher. He also leads the team in triples (11) and stolen bases (19) by massive margins.

Detroit can't afford to lose him right now, so let's hope that Hinch comes back with some good news ahead of Wednesday's game and that Tuesday was just a blink-and-you-miss-it blip for McKinstry.