CLEVELAND – Tie game. Ninth inning.
Drew Sommers on the mound for the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday, Sept. 4.
And Brayan Rocchio at the plate.
Rocchio crushed a home run – his second of the game (to go with a tying grand slam in the fourth inning), as Cleveland walked it off with a stunning 7-6 win.
The loss, which began after a 64-minute weather delay, drops the Tigers (64-76) to 6½ games back in the chase for the final American League wild-card spot, held by the Guardians (71-70), ahead of their second game on Friday. Detroit also fell to nine games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, with the White Sox hosting the Minnesota Twins later on Friday.
At the plate: Tigers put on early air show
It was so surreal. So freakin’ loud.
Several jets buzzed over Progressive Field – they were practicing for this weekend’s Cleveland National Airshow – as the Tigers went to the plate in the first inning.
As the game was played, you would hear a loud roar – sometimes, so loud you couldn’t help but duck – and whoosh! A jet would go screaming over the stadium. It wasn’t just distracting. It was unnerving. In fact, in those moments when the jets disappeared, it was almost surprising to hear the normal sounds of baseball.
But in the midst of all that noise and jarring chaos, the Tigers put on their own air show.
The Tigers had a tremendous approach at the start of this game, being patient and waiting for their pitches. Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene all earned walks. And Gleyber Torres, Ben Malgeri, Spencer Torkelson and Max Clark all had hits, as the Tigers jumped to a 4-0 first-inning lead.
By working the count and being so patient, the Tigers were able to draw 41 pitches from left-hander Logan Allen. The Tigers were able to get him out of the game after just 2⅓ innings – he had already pitched 63 pitches, giving up five runs off six hits and two walks.
There was just so much to like about the Tigers approach, not to mention the Tigers' swsings.
Like Spencer Torkelson hitting an opposite-field homer against Slade Cecconi. It was Torkelson’s 22nd of the year.
Or Max Clark ripping a single, driving in Torkelson.
But after the third inning, those bats went quiet.
The Tigers had a scoring chance in the ninth inning when Colt Keith had a single to left and advanced to second on a passed ball. But Cade Smith shut it down, striking out Torres and McGonigle.
On the mound: Keider Montero solid until the slam
The Tigers looked like they were in cruise control.
Keider Montero was on the mound, in complete control, as the Tigers held a comfortable 6-1 lead heading into the fourth inning. After striking out Jo Adell, the Tigers momentum, not to mention their lead, evaporated quickly. Nathaniel Lowe singled to left, Angel Genao doubled to left and Travis Bazzana singled to right, driving in a run.
Then, Montero walked Patrick Bailey to load the bases.
Brayan Rocchio stepped to the plate and hammered a grand slam to right, the first of his career, which tied it up. But Riley Greene was able to end the damage with a running, sliding catch.
Hinch turned to left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, who pitched the fifth and sixth innings. Holton didn’t give up any runs, so Hinch let him pitch the start of the seventh, facing lefty Chase DeLauter.
It was the first time all season that Hinch asked Holton to go more than two innings.
But it didn’t work because DeLauter walked.
Hinch turned to righty Tyler Kinley to face switch-hitter José Ramírez, forcing him to flip to his left side, his weaker side.
- Ramirez against lefties: .306 batting average with a .937 OPS.
- Ramirez against righties: .216 batting average with a .638 OPS.
And Kinley got him to fly out to right.
After DeLauter stole second, he tried to advice to third on a high chop from Jo Adell. Javier Báez grabbed the ball and went to third, throwing it in the dirt to McGonigle, who snagged the ball and tagged DeLauter out.
Then, the Tigers defense continued to shine when Clark, who was playing shallow, came flying up, and then sliding down, to catch a sinking line drive by Nathaniel Lowe.
Left-hander Drew Sommers pitched the eighth and he made some quick work, throwing eight strikes on 11 pitches, getting Genao to ground out, David Fry to strike out and Bailey to ground out to first.
Next up: Let's play two!
The Tigers are Guardians are scheduled to play the second game of a doubleheader on Friday night (7:15 p.m., Apple TV), although the weather report wasn't encouraging. Rookie left-hander Andrew Sears (0-1, 6.75), making his first career MLB start, was scheduled to face lefty Foster Griffin (15-4, 3.21).
After that, the series continues with a night game on Saturday, with lefty Framber Valdez on the mound for the Tigers, and then a day game Sunday.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers collapse again vs Guadians on walk-off HR by Brayan Rocchio
