Warren weathers storm to give Yankees length

DETROIT -- When Adam Warren walked four of the first five Tigers hitters who stepped to the plate Wednesday, it looked like it might be a long night for the Yankees' bullpen.

Instead, the right-hander turned in a surprisingly long outing, recovering from the 36-pitch first inning to pitch into the sixth as the Yankees beat the Tigers, 13-4, at Comerica Park.

"It just kind of got away from me a little bit," Warren said. "But after that first inning, I felt like I made some adjustments and got back to it."

The Yankees provided Warren a six-run cushion during a 31-minute top of the first inning. But that lead began to evaporate as Warren, with snow flurries swirling around him, walked in a run before recording his second out.

Video: NYY@DET: Yanks score six runs in snowy Detroit

While some pitchers feel freed up to throw strikes and pitch to contact when granted a big lead, Warren said the Yanks' big inning may have had the opposite effect on him. Rather than worry about locating, he expanded his target and wound up missing the strike zone entirely.

Warren then served up two RBI singles and a run-scoring forceout to Detroit's next three hitters, finally getting out of the inning with a pop out to second base.

"It's tough, because that's the last thing you want to do when you get those kinds of runs," Warren said. "You want to go out there and just attack hitters, especially in those kind of conditions. ... It was tough to deal with, but I tried to bounce back and get back to my strengths: pounding the zone."

Warren did just that, and he was lights-out from that point on. The Yankees scored two more runs in the top of the second, and he answered with a perfect bottom half of the frame.

"I'm proud of the way I bounced back and gave the team some depth," Warren said. "Obviously there's things I want to work on, but it's definitely something to build on."

Warren gave up a single in the fourth and another in the fifth, but both were negated by double plays. He allowed a one-out single in the sixth, struck out Nick Castellanos and exited the game after 101 pitches, 65 of them in his final 4 2/3 innings.

Video: NYY@DET: Gregorius starts a double play in the 4th

Instead of having to send in long reliever Esmil Rogers in the first or second inning, Warren allowed manager Joe Girardi to preserve his bullpen -- no small accomplishment with the Yankees in the middle of a grueling stretch in which they'll play 30 games in 31 days.

"I think it's real important, because we're in a long stretch here, and we didn't have to really beat up our bullpen," Girardi said.