Tigers 4, Guardians 2: A heartbeat has been detected

After losing eight games in a row and falling out of first place in the American League Central for the first time in forever, the Detroit Tigers looked to salvage at least one win from this miserable series. Well, a pair of early home runs and some excellent performances out of the bullpen will usually do the trick, as it did on Thursday night in Cleveland, as the Tigers beat the Guardians 4-2.

Desperate for any kind of starting pitching help, the Tigers sent Troy Melton to the mound to make his fourth start and sixteenth appearance overall. The Tigers have been trying to limit his innings, so he probably wasn’t going to go too deep into this game (and he didn’t). The results coming into tonight have been mixed: his WHIP was an even 1, and his ERA was 2.79. But on the flip side he’d given up seven home runs in 42 innings, walked 13 in those innings, and had a FIP of 4.64 which means he’d been getting bailed-out by good fielding and, frankly, had a bit of luck on his side.

Parker Messick, a lefty rookie from Florida, made his seventh start for Cleveland. He’s been great so far: in 34 2/3 innings coming into tonight he’d only walked five, struck out 31, and given up a single home run. He pitched in the Futures Game during the All-Star festivities this year, and was recalled from Triple-A on August 20. His second career start in amongst the tall buildings was sensational: he held the Rays to four hits and no runs over seven innings, striking out six.

Right off the bat, Jahmai Jones decided he’d get the party started with a solo home run on a full-count sinker to put the Tigers up 1-0. Wenceel Pérez thought that looked like fun so, with one out, he did the same on a 0-1 slider to make it 2-0.

Melton got Steven Kwan to pop up to shortstop in the first inning. This isn’t normally noteworthy, but it’s Kwan we’re talking about here, and getting him out in any way is BIG NEWS. Two batters later he got José Ramírez to fly out to right, with Pérez making a great running catch, which is also BIG NEWS. Would this early-inning success be a harbinger of a sea-change in the Tigers’ fortunes?

Dillon Dingler hit a one-out double the other way to right field, and with two outs Javier Báez poked an opposite-field single to plate Dingler and stretch the lead to 3-0.

The Cleves got a run back in the bottom of the second with a walk, a productive groundout, and a single by CJ Kayfus to narrow the gap to 3-1.

In the third, Melton got Kwan to pop up again, in foul territory near third base; THIS IS NEWS. Melton was looking good early, hitting 99 mph on his four-seamer, dropping an occasional curveball in for a little variety, which I’m told is the spice of life. Melton made his first stressful pitches of the evening with two out and two on in the third to the dangerous Kyle Manzardo, but he coaxed a harmless popup behind shortstop that Báez fielded with a skip and a hop, because why not?

Riley Greene didn’t want to be left out of the solo-home-run party either, so on the first pitch of the fourth he rocked a middle-middle two-seamer many rows deep into the right-field seats for a 4-1 lead.

So much for that single home run so far by Messick, eh?

Melton departed with two out in the fourth, having thrown 49 pitches, surrendering a run on two hits, walking a pair and striking out one. He was relieved by Brant Hurter, brought in to face fellow lefty Kayfus, who doubled for the second time… but he then got a chopper to second out of Brayan Rocchio and that was that.

In the fifth with one out, Jones reached first on a bounced throw to first from Ramírez; he advanced to third on a single by Gleyber Torres. Pérez walked to load the bases, but Torkelson popped up to short left field for the second out. Greene then stepped to the plate; would the Tigers squander this golden opportunity to pad their lead? After fouling off a pair of full-count pitches, Greene swung-and-missed at a pitch that bounced… so yes, that was a full-on squander, right there.

Hurter got Kwan to go too far on a check-swing on an outside sweeper in the dirt for strike three to make the second out of the fifth. THIS IS BIG NEWS. Hurter sailed through a pleasurably-boring fifth, which is great.

Well, Cleveland manager Steven Vogt figured five innings was about enough from Messick, so Matt Festa — I really, really want to call him “Fiesta” — was brought in for the sixth. With two outs Parker Meadows walked, and he gazelled his way to third on a single by Báez, putting runners at the corners for pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter, who waved half-heartedly at a shoulder-high fastball for the third strike and the third out.

Tommy Kahnle, who’s been much better lately, started the sixth. He got Ramírez to ground out to second, Manzardo to ground out to shortstop (after taking a funny bounce off the mound), and Gabriel Arias to ground out to shortstop (without the funny bounce). More boring innings, boys! Bring ‘em on.

Tim Herrin relieved Festa for the seventh and with two outs he walked both Torkelson and Greene. Alas, Zach McKinstry stranded them both when he grounded out to first, and things were starting to look a whole lot like they had been for the past three weeks.

Kahnle continued on to get a groundout from Angel Martínez to start the bottom of the seventh; he gave way to Tyler Holton who painted a perfect curveball to get Jhonkensy Noel “out for excessive window-shopping,” and induced a grounder to short from Rocchio for the third out.

Kwan was up second in the bottom of the eighth; he batted with a runner on first after an Austin Hedges single. (Also, about Hedges: guy can’t hit a lick, except against the Tigers. So bizarre.) What did Holton do? Got him to line out to second. THIS IS HUGE NEWS. An oh-fer out of of Kwan? He doesn’t murder the Tigers for once in a crucial game? On what planet did I wake up?!

After the lineout, Kyle Finnegan was brought in and Daniel Schneemann pinch-hit; he grounded out to first, but the dangerous Ramírez strode to the plate with Hedges upshed up to second. Since it’s a physical impossibility to contain both Kwan and Ramírez fully in the same game — it’s the Ohio Uncertainty Principle — he hit a double to score Hedges and narrow the lead to 4-2. But, Finnegan reached back and blew a 98-mph fastball past Manzardo for strike three and the damage was contained.

The Tigers entered the ninth looking for a little insurance; Pérez walked with two outs but Torkelson lined out to third to send the game to the bottom of the ninth with a two-run cushion and Will Vest coming into the game to get the final three outs.

Vest froze Arias with a fastball at the knees for the third strike and the first out. He got Martínez to strike out swinging on an inside fastball, and pinch-hitter Bo Naylor also struck out swinging on an inside fastball.

The streak was over.

The spell was broken.

The dream is still alive, people.

Final score: Tigers 4, Guardians 2

Notes and Whatnot

• In twenty games in September coming into tonight, the Tigers had a batting average of .227, with a .671 OPS. And that includes that oh-so-long-ago outburst of runs against the Yankees. Remember that? I barely do.
• You know what else happened in that outburst? Before tonight, it was the last time the Tigers had a three-run lead in any game.
• Heck of a race in the AL East, with the Yankees and Blue Jays neck-and-neck. The winner of that division will probably get one of the wild-card byes; the Jays would certainly appreciate that, with the chance of possibly getting Bo Bichette back from the IL.
• Fifty-one years ago today, Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first-ever Ulnar Collateral Ligament replacement surgery on Tommy John, who was then pitching for the Dodgers. John liked the surgery so much he paid Jobe $100 to name it after himself.
• Some of the above point may not be true.