What. a. Game.
The Tigers have been in a lot of situations over the past month that have felt “must-win.” A lot of those games, they did not win. But this afternoon it’s do-or-die with the rest of the postseason on the line, and the Guardians proving to be a much more formidable foe than their lineup would lead you to believe. Today, as the Tigers hope to claw back victory from the potential jaws of defeat, they’ll be relying on Jack Flaherty on the mound, while the Guardians are hoping Slade Cecconi will be the man to get it done for them. Either way, it seemed likely that this will come down to whose bullpen flinches first, so the Tigers will be hoping for a long haul (and more controlled pitching) from Jack Flaherty. Cecconi has no postseason experience, while Flaherty was with the Dodgers last October, so we shall see who makes it work best.
With two outs in the first, Kerry Carpenter managed to argue his way out of a strikeout but pointing out he tipped the ball and worked it to a walk. Cecconi really struggled to get the final out after that; it took him 26 pitches just to get through the first four batters. A good sign for the Tigers if they could continue to work him that way. Flaherty came in for the home half and turned around a 1-2-3 inning.
In the second, Cecconi unfortunately turned things around and got the Tigers out in order with only eight pitches. In the home half, the rookie Chase DeLauter got a one-out single right in the gap in right field. Flaherty was starting to show some command issues early on, but he did manage to get the final two outs of the inning.
The game headed into the third, and the Tigers got back-to-back one-out singles from Parker Meadows and Gleyber Torres, which marked the end of the game for Cecconi, proving the short leash in this game wasn’t a joke. Tim Herrin came in to face Kerry Carpenter, and Carpenter doubled towards first, where a deflection by DeLauter caused the ball to move off awkwardly, and allowed Meadows to score while leaving two men in scoring position.
The Tigers’ bad luck with men left on base continued, though, as the next two batters were out, leaving two stranded. A lot of the September games between these two clubs came down to one run to win it, so leaving those runners on was likely to come back to haunt the team. In the home half, with some very efficient help from his infielders, Flaherty managed to get through the side in order, but his command was, politely, not great. Still, it’s what happens that matters, not what doesn’t, and he got through the side in order.
Joey Cantillo came in for the Guardians in the fourth. He gave up a leadoff single to Riley Greene. With one out, Zach McKinstry worked a walk to put two men on. Javier Baez struck out. A pop-out ended the inning, and once again the Tigers squandered an opportunity with men on. In the home half, George Valera hit a leadoff double. I’d have to assume the leash for Flaherty was getting shorter at that point. A Jose Ramirez single into right brought Valera home, and the game was tied. Ramirez was then caught stealing by an absolutely perfect throw from Dingler for the first out of the inning. Kyle Manzardo walked, but was thankfully eliminated in a double-play off the bat of DeLauter. At least they were out of the inning with minimal damage, but even that little isn’t such an easy hurdle to overcome for a team that can’t seem to score runs.
Kerry Carpenter seemed to have no problem getting on in this game, as he took a one-out walk in the fifth. A double play made the baserunner moot, however. Flaherty was back in the fifth, which might be a testament to the recent performance of the bullpen. After two outs and a walk to C.J. Kayfus, Flaherty’s day was done, making way for Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan got the final out of the inning. Flaherty’s final line for the game was 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K on 74 pitches.
With two outs—and some ugly fielding—in the sixth, Dillon Dingler got a solo home run to center, chasing Cantillo from the game and giving the Tigers the lead. Erik Sabrowski came in and got the final out of the inning.
Finnegan worked through the order in the bottom of the sixth and kept the Guardians off the basepaths.
Javier Baez continued to have one heck of a series with a double off the wall in left to get things going. Meadows then hustled out a single, allowing Baez to get to third, putting men on the corners with no outs. Cautious optimism… The Guardians dipped back into their bullpen for Hunter Gaddis. Torres hit a comebacker right at Gaddis, which froze Baez at third, and got the out at first, but moved both runners into scoring position. Kerry Carpenter took an intentional walk, and the bases were loaded with one out. Wenceel Perez finally got something going, and singled to right, bringing two runs in.
Torkelson then hit a single down the left field line to score Carpenter. Then Riley Greene singled, and suddenly it was a 6-1 game, which feels much nicer today than it did yesterday.
Matt Festa came in and hit Dingler with a pitch, but the Guardians contested that it was actually a hit to the end of the bat. The call was overturned and ruled a foul, bringing Dingler back to the plate. It didn’t end up mattering because he drew a walk anyway, re-loading the bases. Flaherty struck out for the second out, then Baez popped out to end the inning with the bases loaded (classic), but they did score five runs, so I’ll dial down the attitude a little. Tyler Holton was next out of the Tigers’ pen. With two outs, Gabriel Arias singled, but Bo Naylor grounded out to end the inning.
Side note, but this is insane:
Jakob Junis was the next Guardians reliever up, and the Tigers went 1-2-3, the first time all game Kerry Carpenter didn’t get on base. Tommy Kahnle came in for the Tigers. Brayan Rocchio singled with one out. Then Steven Kwan doubled. That was it for Kahnle. Will Vest came out to save us. With two outs, Jose Ramirez reached second on a missed plate cover by Vest. The play at second was challenged and overturned because Ramirez was clearly out. The inning was over, but the score was 6-3.
Cade Smith was in for the top of the ninth, hopefully very tired from appearing in every game this series. He wasn’t tired enough, though, because he got the Tigers out in order. It was the final bow for the Guardians, and they took it without a single baserunner. Unbelievable turnaround.
The Tigers are headed to Seattle.
Category: General Sports
