The Detroit Tigers looked to stop their six-game losing streak in their Tuesday-night tilt against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. They did exactly that by hitting a timely home run and taking advantage of some shaky defence in a 4-1 win to even the three-game series at a win apiece.
Jackson Jobe made his fourth start of the year for the Tigers. The previous three had alternated good, bad and good, and the pitch count has been gradually ramping-up; his previous start saw him throw 86 pitches. He hasn’t
been striking out many so far — heck, Framber Valdez didn’t strike anyone out on Monday night — but, like Valdez, he succeeds when he gets hitters to bash the ball into the ground.
Casey Legumina, a lefty, opened for Ian Seymour, a lefty. Both Legumina and Seymour have started some and relieved some, although Legumina is more of a reliever and Seymour is more of a starter and/or “bulk guy.” Seymour has generally been pretty solid, mostly in a starting role for the past two months. Strikeouts are not a problem for him; he tends to get more fly balls hit than the average pitcher, although he generally limits hard contact and has kept his hard-hit percentage below average. Would that play out well in cavernous Comerica National Park? Mostly, but not entirely; decidedly, even.
Things started off pretty quietly for both teams, with Jobe looking generally good but having trouble with his control. As we’ve discussed before, the recovery from Tommy John surgery often sees pitchers taking a little longer to get that control back… and that’s what’s happening here. Gleyber Torres made a nice play, though.
In the bottom of the third, Spencer Torkelson led off with a double, and after Javier Báez flew out, that was the end of Legumina and Seymour took over, who got another pair of flyouts and Torkelson was left on second.
The top of the fourth brought trouble for Jobe and the Tigers: a leadoff single and double put runners on second and third, and after a foulout, an infield single to Hao-Yu Lee at third base which carried him into foul territory allowed the first run to score. A walk loaded the bases as Jobe’s pitch count was rising, and the Rays were one solid base hit from really opening up a lead, but fortunately a called third strike and a soft grounder to first limited the score to 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning Dillon Dingler singled sharply with two out, and Eduardo Valencia did the same, putting runners on the corners for Zach McKinstry. Alas, he struck out and the Tigers stayed off the board for the time being.
Jobe stuck around to get the first out of the fifth inning and then exited in favour of Drew Sommers. His final line: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K. Conceringly, Jobe threw 86 pitches but only 49 were strikes (57.0%). Sommers has been a force out of the bullpen lately, though: he had a 1.56 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings coming into tonight’s game, dating back to early July. Sommers came in and got a swinging strikeout and an infield popup, which is pretty much exactly what you’d expect of him these days, isn’t it?
The Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth: Torkelson led off with a single, and a Báez grounder forced Torkelson at second base. No matter, though: Max Clark turned on a sweeper and deposited it into the seats for his second career home run, putting Detroit up 2-1. Nice to see that off a lefty in particular.
Some uncharacteristically sloppy play gifted the Tigers another run: a Torres pop-up to short right field fell between a pair of fielders, and he was balked over to second. Kevin McGonigle’s grounder to first base clanked off Jonathan Aranda’s glove and into right field, with Torres scoring on the play for a 3-1 lead. I’ll take it!
Sommers carried on into the sixth and got three gloriously-uneventful groundouts in that all-important shutdown inning. You love to see that… and, you know what else I’d love to see? Sommers pitching late in games, in higher-pressure situations. Jacob Waugespack came on for the seventh; with two outs he gave up a walk but got Yandy Díaz to ground out to shortstop for the third out.
Báez led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple to the wall in right-centrefield, and was still there with two out. Would he be stranded ninety feet (roughly 380 Big Macs, stacked vertically) from home? As the French would say, “Non!” Lee singled to left to let Báez score and make it 4-1.
Tyler Holton entered the game in the eighth and gave up a single, but it was an otherwise easy inning for him and the fans. After a quiet bottom of the eighth…
…yep, Kenley Jansen came out for the save. It was a pretty tough outing last time, but this one? Flyout, strikeout, foulout. No problem! Career save #493 for the veteran, and a Tigers win.
Final score: Tigers 4, Rays 1
Numbers and Remembrances
- Starting play today, the Tigers were 4.5 games behind Cleveland for the final Wild Card in the American League. Nice!
- Five teams were between Cleveland and Detroit in said Wild Card standings. Ouch.
- Entering tonight’s play, the Tigers still had a +70 run differential, third-best in the American League. That means an expected won-loss record of 73-58, as opposed to their actual 61-70. Oof.
- I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of the legendary Dolly Parton at age 80 earlier today. She was impossible not to like, and has fans with as broad a spectrum, any way you care to measure it, as anyone else you’d ever find. A true gem, and probably one of the best liked people on Earth. Rest in peace, Dolly.
