CLEVELAND – Sometimes, it’s important to zoom back and see the big picture.
Yes, the Detroit Tigers blew a game on Friday, Sept. 4 – when Brayan Rocchio crushed his second homer of the game, as the Cleveland Guardians walked it off with a stunning 7-6 win.
And yes, the Tigers blew another one in the nightcap – when rookie Travis Bazzana had a tying home run and then the winning hit in a 4-3 win in the 10th inning to end a disastrous doubleheader for the Tigers.
Two games against the Guardians. Two walk-offs. It’s the first time the Cleveland franchise walked off both games of a doubleheader since Aug.19, 1984, against the Milwaukee Brewers –14 years before the Brewers joined the AL Central and 18 years before the Brewers moved to the National League.
It’s enough to drive you crazy. But one thing shouldn’t be lost in all that misery and late-inning failure: Andrew Sears started his first MLB game for the Tigers and the rookie lefty looked like he belonged. He was absolutely impressive.
“He can handle this moment and the responsibility,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
Sears threw 5⅔ innings allowing four hits with four strikeouts and two walks on 93 pitches.
It’s the most innings the 24-year-old has pitched in a game in the Tigers organization.
And it was tied for the most pitches the 2023 10th-round pick has thrown in professional baseball. (He also threw 93 pitches on July 23, 2024,with Low-A Lakeland.)
That was significant on Friday because the Tigers had depleted their bullpen in the first game.
“It's even more impressive because he knows going into the game he was going to be leaned on quite a bit,” Hinch said. “He knew that he needed to carry the lion's share of the workload. It's hot. It's a good team. He's super-competitive and he showed he belongs.”
Sears also showed he can handle pressure, stranding at least one runner in four of his first five innings. He didn't crumble under the moment.
“The fastball is definitely moving a lot better than it has been recently,” Sears said. “I could tell they were swinging under it, so that means it was going to play well. Everything else was going to play off that. The changeup was looking good. I was putting the slider where I could.”
Maybe there was something else that was important: How he acted on the mound.
Sears is known as an emotional, fast-working pitcher. His teammates call him "Psycho" for his intensity and antics.
But in his first action with the Tigers, he said – as a reliever – he tamped down his emotions.
But that wasn’t really being himself.
This time? He didn’t worry about that. He didn’t try to control anything. He was himself again – back in a starting role. He felt more comfortable, more like himself.
“I didn't think about anything,” he said. “I was just – attack them, throw strikes and attack them.”
And it was impressive, to say the least.
A familiar, painful ending
Having said that, let’s address the elephant in the room.
The big, massive issue of this season.
The one where, if this elephant started walking down a set of stairs, it would do fine ... until it reached the bottom few steps.
And then it would simply crash.
The Tigers (64-77) have blown 41 leads in their 141 games.
And they are 13-25 in one-run games – tied for the most losses in one-run games this season.
“It sucks,” said Tigers closer Kenley Jansen, who gave up the winning run in Game 2. “It sucks definitely.”
Now, here’s the really crazy part: Jansen thought he was throwing well on Friday.
But once again, the Tigers wasted another game.
“A weird year,” Jansen said. “I think it's a weird year for everybody, and I think individually for me too. … Just can't catch a break. I couldn't catch a break the whole year. Team is not catching a break the whole year, so it just sucks. That's baseball. I mean, I'm not gonna give up.”
True – I don’t sense anyone in this clubhouse giving up.
This team has the fight, just not the finish.
“I'm gonna come out here tomorrow, and I'm gonna play for who I represent, which is the Tigers,” Jansen said. “I'm gonna play with respect and keep playing hard and do my best."
Then, I asked him about Sears.
About this rookie who was so impressive.
“It sucks, man,” Jansen said. “He deserved that win, and we just couldn't put it together for him today.”
Good news for Hao-Yu Lee
If there was one piece of good news, it was that Tigers infielder Hao-Yu Lee appeared to avoid serious injury after a collision at the plate. He was removed from the game with a shin contusion.
“I think he's okay,” Hinch said. “It was pretty scary. He first said it was his ankle. Turns out it was his shin, and so we're lucky that it's not the ankle. He's moving around better, and I know it hurt. I know it scared him a little bit, and we got him checked out, and looks like he's day to day.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers rookie Andrew Sears deserves much better than bullpen debacle
