The Tigers are no longer alone at the top of the AL Central.
Well, here we are friends, the final week of the season and quite possibly the most important week of the Tigers’ entire series. I don’t think any of us expected the final series against Cleveland to matter this much, but here we are, holding our breath and hoping like hell that the Tigers will live to see October. Tonight, they turned to Tarik Skubal—timed well in case he might be needed for a Hail Mary on Sunday—and the Guardians were running Gavin Williams to the mound.
In the top of the first the Tigers went 1-2-3. Things went a bit better for the Guardians against Skubal with Angel Martinez getting a one-out single, then Jose Ramirez walked. The threat was ended, however, when David Fry grounded into a double play.
Another 1-2-3 for the Tigers was not exactly the aggressive at-bats we were hoping to see in a do-or-die scenario. Gabriel Arias walked to start the home half, but was picked off at first by Dillon Dingler. Two outs followed, giving us a nice Skubal inning and nothing helping the Guardians.
The Tigers finally got a little something going in the third, as Zach McKinstry got a ground-rule double to start the inning. Wenceel Perez then doubled, bringing McKinstry home and putting the Tigers on the board first. They’d have to settle for the one run, though, as three outs in a row followed those two doubles.
Skubal, blessedly, was now in his zone, and he got the Guardians out in order.
In the fourth, the Tigers kept the pressure on. Spencer Torkelson got a one-out walk, then Riley Greene singled. Williams continued to struggle, giving up another walk to Dillon Dingler to load the bases. It was quite possibly the best opportunity the Tigers would get all game to blow things open, but back-to-back strikeouts sent them back to the dugout with nothing to show for it. In the bottom of the inning, Skubal plowed through the order, getting the Guardians to go three-up, three-down.
After a solid effort in the fourth, the Tigers were back to basics with a 1-2-3 inning. Skubal, unfortunately, found himself struggling against Cleveland. With one out, Kyle Manzardo doubled, followed by a Jhonkensy Noel walk. Two outs followed, though, keeping the Tigers safe for one more inning.
With two outs in the sixth, the Tigers had one thing go very right for them, with Riley Greene getting a solo homer, his 35th home run of the season.
In the home half, things got bad. Steven Kwan singled. Angel Martinez then hit a sac bunt, which Skubal attempted to throw backward and between his legs to first, overthrowing Torkelson completely and letting Martinez advance to second, and Kwan to third. Jose Ramirez singled, bringing Kwan home and putting runners at the corners with no outs. David Fry, showing bunt, had the ball ricochet off the bat and into his face. It was absolutely brutal. He went down immediately and did not get back up right away. When he did, he was able to stand on his own but was carted off the field. Definitely not something anyone wants to see happen in a game. Skubal was obviously ruffled by the whole thing as well. Since Fry did go on the bunt attempt, it was called a foul, a pinch-hitter was brought in to finish the at-bat. A wild pitch by Skubal, likely still shaken from the event with Fry, allowed Martinez to score, but he did finally get the first out of the inning. Skubal, distracted by Ramirez, came off the bag and it was called a balk. Arias then hit a groundout to score Ramirez. Bad times, bad times. Skubal finally got himself out of the inning, but the Guardians now had the lead.
Erik Sabrowski came on in relief of Williams in the top of the seventh, and it was another 1-2-3 inning for the Tigers. Skubal’s night was obviously done, one of his rockier outings of the year with a final line of 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K on 95 pitches. Tommy Kahnle came in from the pen and got two outs in a row before giving up a walk to Austin Hedges. Hinch had his bullpen on a short leash, and that was it for Tommy. Kyle Finnegan replaced him. Steven Kwan then doubled, and my new mission for this team is that they should just sign Kwan so they never have to play against him ever again. A pinch-hitting Daniel Schneemann singled to score two more runs for the Guardians. Finnegan finally got the last out of the inning, but the damage was certainly done.
Hunter Gaddis was the next pitcher in for the Guardians. Kerry Carpenter did get a two-out single, but Gattis wrapped it up with a final strikeout. Brant Hurter came on for the Tigers in the home half. With two outs Petey Halpin singled, though there was some non-reviewable nonsense where a foul ball couldn’t be revisited, so instead a dude named Petey is on first and Hurter is done. Rafael Montero was next out of the pen and he got the final out of the inning.
Cade Smith came in for the top of the ninth, and while Riley Greene disagreed, he was the first out. Dillon Dingler then also showed some signs of annoyance on a called third strike that was, to be fair, outside the zone. None of it ended up mattering as Smith got the final out and the game was over. It remains to be seen if the whole season is.
Category: General Sports
