The Tigers got their week going in high-scoring fashion with a 9-2 victory over the Nationals.
The postseason hunt might be over for the Tigers this season, but there was still baseball left to play, and hopefully more games to win in the final week of the season. They opened the week with a three-game series against the Nationals, and for the first game we got to see highly touted rookie River Ryan in his Tigers debut, up against DJ Herz for the Nationals.
Ryan got things underway nicely in his debut
with a three-up, three-down inning, including striking out the first batter he faced. Gleyber Torres walked to open the home half, then on a wild pitch from Herz, he advanced to second. Hao-Yu Lee hit a ground-rule double, bringing Torres home and putting the Tigers on the board early.
With one out, Eduardo Valencia singled with a liner into left, bringing Lee home.
Ben Malgeri doubled, but two outs followed, leaving him stranded. We must also acknowledge how savage the camera and production crew for the Tigers are because of this.
In the second, Dylan Crews got a one-out single, then Jorbit Vivas walked to put two men on. But then next two batters were out, getting Ryan out of the very minor jam. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Jacob Young doubled to start the second. With two outs there was a pause in play as Abimelec Ortiz needed to walk off an uncomfortable foul. When he finally came back he lobbed a blooper that looked like it might drop, but Malgeri swept in to get the final out of the inning. That was all she wrote for Ryan, who was always going to be on a short leash for his debut game. He went 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K on 43 pitches. He had a strong fastball and despite giving up three hits, he showed solid command and should be an interesting pitcher to keep an eye on long-term. Valencia got a two-out double in the bottom of the inning, but the Tigers weren’t able to bring him in.
Keider Montero replaced Ryan in the fourth inning. He gave up a one-out walk to Dylan Crews, but then got the next two batters out in order. In the bottom of the inning Dingler took a leadoff walk, but one out later, it was Javier Baez who got to play game hero, with a two-run homer to left.
In the fifth, Young got a one-out single, but the Nationals weren’t able to turn it into anything. Up against reliever Luis Perales, Riley Greene got a one-out walk in the home half, then Valencia got his third double of the night. Ben Malgeri then hit a three-run homer, taking the Tigers to a 7-0 lead.
Dillon Dingler doubled off the outfield wall in a hit that looked awfully close to leaving the park, but there was no doubt about the ball going over the fence when Spencer Torkelson homered to bring two more runs in.
Baez drew a walk, but two outs followed and the Tigers went back to their dugout after extending their lead to 9-0.
In the sixth, the Nationals went 1-2-3. In the bottom of the inning Lee hit a leadoff single, but the next three batters went down in order to quickly end the threat.
The Nationals once again went three-up, three down in the top of the seventh. Josiah Gray was the new Nationals pitcher for the home half and Dingler got a single with a little thanks to second base, where the ball hit and bounced safely into the outfield. His good luck swiftly ended when Torkelson grounded into a double play. A pinch-hitting Zach McKinstry ended the inning with a lineout.
Drew Sommers came in for the eighth. James Woods got a one-out single, and then with two outs a pinch-hitting Yohandy Morales homered for the Nationals’ first two runs of the night. They’d have to settle for just those as the next out ended the inning. Lee got a two-out double in the bottom of the inning but the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.
Beau Brieske came out to close things down for the Tigers in the ninth, and he did just that, getting the side out in order. The Tigers claimed victory for the first game of the series.
Final: Tigers 9, Nationals 2
