NEW YORK -- For six innings on Tuesday, the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers played a clean, tight baseball game suitable for a potential postseason preview. Then the Yankees crumbled spectacularly, allowing the Tigers to pull away in a nine-run seventh inning en route to a 12-2 win.

Right-handed relievers Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr . were charged with a combined nine earned runs without recording an out, becoming the first pair of major league teammates to each face at least four batters and not secure an out since 2003, according to ESPN Research.

"Sometimes it doesn't go your way," Cruz said. "I was battling, obviously, there's no doubt. It's just one of those nights that we just need to forget. Come back tomorrow and do your job."

The loss, combined with the Toront

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