DETROIT — Michael King knows that his best chance of staying in the rotation for the rest of this season banks on pitching well.
And pitching well as a starter for the rest of this season would make his best case as he tries to convince the Yankees he could be part of their rotation next season, too.
In both respects, the right-hander is off to a good start.
King tossed four scoreless innings in his longest outing in over two years, getting the Yankees off on the right foot as they beat the Tigers 4-2 on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.
Pitching on a full four days’ rest for the first time since the Yankees began to move him back into a starting role, King stretched out to 61 pitches and looked sharp throughout.
He scattered three singles and did not walk a batter while striking out five.
With the Yankees (64-68) having shifted their attention to the future for the final month-plus of the season, allowing King to start every five days would seem like the logical decision.
Plus, with rosters expanding on Friday, the Yankees can carry an extra bullpen arm to help make up for not having King available in relief the rest of the way.
On a day when the Yankees released Josh Donaldson and also put pending free agent Harrison Bader on irrevocable waivers — he still played in the game, going 0-for-4 with an error in center field — they went back to the long ball to win their second straight against the Tigers (59-73).
Gleyber Torres, Kyle Higashioka and Anthony Volpe all hit solo home runs, helping to build a 4-0 lead that withstood Clay Holmes giving up a pair of runs in the ninth inning.
Torres homered for the second straight game, crushing a 454-foot shot to left field in the first inning for the early lead against left-hander Tarik Skubal.
Higashioka later doubled the lead in the fifth inning with a solo shot, his 10th of the season, tying a career-high.
After Aaron Judge scored from third base on a passed ball in the sixth inning, Volpe made it a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning when he ripped his 19th home run of the season.
Piggybacking in relief of King, rookie right-hander Jhony Brito also turned in a solid outing, tossing 3 ¹/₃ shutout innings.