NEW YORK — Justin Verlander followed the trajectory of the ball and watched helplessly as Alex Rodri-guez’s opposite-field flyball settled softly into the second row of right- field seats.
All of a sudden, after six dominant innings, all-star Verlander was losing. Welcome to the new Yankee Stadium.
CC Sabathia beat Verlander in a prime pitching matchup that lived up to its billing, and Rodriguez’s pop-fly homer helped send the New York Yankees to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
“It’s very frustrating,” Verlander said. “It’s very disappointing to throw the ball as well as I did and come away with a loss.”
Sabathia (9-6) tossed seven scoreless innings, working out of trouble all afternoon for his eighth victory in 11 decisions. Mariano Rivera got three quick outs for a save and Derek Jeter made an outstanding defensive play in the ninth.
“The game had a feeling that one mistake was going to be the difference,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez led off with a high fly toward Yankee Stadium’s short right- field porch. Verlander watched it the whole way, then smiled in disbelief after the ball carried over the fence.
