After a road trip, it’s always nice to get home, and the Tigers were certainly happy to be back at Comerica Park. The first game of their series against the Brewers had Keider Montero on the mound for the Tigers, and Kyle Harrison up for the Brewers. Right now, before you continue reading this, I need you to look at a photo of Kyle Harrison and tell me he doesn’t look like Andy Dirks’ brother.
In the first inning, with two outs on the board, Jake Bauers singled. A Gary Sanchez groundout ended the inning, though.
In the home half, Gleyber Torres was hit by a pitch with one out. A passed ball then allowed Torres to advance to second. Unfortunately, two outs came right on the heels of that boon and the Tigers did what they love to do: leave a man stranded.
Top of the second, and while it looked like the Tigers had their first out, Garrett Mitchell quickly called for a review, and at a very quick glance, he was right to, and the call was overturned, putting a man on first. Luis Rengifo drew a walk. Sal Frelick then followed that up with a single, which brought Mitchell home for the first run of the game. A perfectly placed bunt single from David Hamilton loaded the bases. Montero finally got the first out of the inning, but it soon got uglier. Bruce Turang singled, scoring two runs. Hamilton made a push for home but was tagged out. The Brewers were up by three at the mid-point of the second. In the home half, Riley Greene got a one-out single, and Spencer Torkelson singled right behind him, but the Tigers would leave both baserunners stranded.
Montero course corrected nicely in the third, getting the side out in order. The Tigers built up another opportunity in the bottom of the third. Kevin McGonigle got a two-out double, and Matt Vierling followed that with a walk, but once again the Tigers left two on base.
The fourth saw another 1-2-3 inning for Montero against the Brewers, something he and the team desperately needed if they hoped to overcome the gap in the score. Greene took a leadoff walk in the home half, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Torkelson then walked. Hao-Yu Lee singled, and with the bases loaded, that was it for Harrison, who was pulled and replaced by Grant Anderson. Anderson’s first order of business was to induce a double play off the bat of Javier Baez, but the Tigers did score their first run of the game in Riley Greene. They’d have to settle for just the one run for now, though.
The Brewers once again went three-up, three-down in the fifth. In the home half, the Tigers continued to attempt to make something happen. Torres got a leadoff single, but a flyout and double play meant he didn’t get much of a chance to score.
Two outs into the sixth, Montero’s night was done. His final line for the game was 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K on 88 pitches. We’ve certainly seen better from him this season, but it was nice to see a strong course correction after he floundered early in the game. He ended up getting 12 outs in a row before being pulled. Enmanuel De Jesus came out of the pen to replace him, and he got the final out of the inning. Trevor Megill came out of the Brewers pen in the bottom of the inning and got the Tigers out in order.
A nice streak of 15 outs in a row against the Brewers ended in the seventh with a two-out single to Hamilton. Blake Perkins then took a walk. A throwing error was charged to De Jesus on a pickoff attempt. Then Turang singled, bringing Hamilton home. Just an ugly inning, and it kept getting worse as a William Contreras line drive headed to left and scored another run. The Tigers managed to get out of the inning without more runs scoring, but when it was all said and done, the score was now 5-1 for the Brewers. Aaron Ashby was the new pitcher for Milwaukee in the bottom of the inning. Lee took a leadoff walk, even though the Brewers challenged a ball call, it was confirmed correct. With two outs, Torres walked as well, putting two men on. It was another case of Tigers Threaten But Do Not Score, though.
Gary Sanchez started the inning with a triple. Mitchell then got a triple of his own, scoring another run. Rengifo singled as Vierling just barely missed making the catch in right. This scored another run. No one was warming, so this is just how we live now. Sal Frelick walked. If you’re still reading at this point, you’re a real one. Hamilton then singled, which should have been a pretty run-of-the-mill grounder, but nope, instead it’s bases loaded. Can a whole team be charged with defensive indifference? De Jesus was finally pulled. Connor Seabold came in and decided to maintain the status quo by hitting Blake Perkins with a pitch to walk in a run. Sure, why not? The Tigers finally got their first out of the inning with a Turang flyout, but another run scored. Then a Contreras single brought in yet another one. A well-placed double into left by Bauers scored another run. 10 batters into this inning, and we still have only one out. Sanchez, in his second at-bat, grounded out, scoring a run, but also getting the Tigers a much-needed out. The Tigers finally got out of the inning, but seven runs scored, and everyone was a little worse-off personally for having watched it.
Jake Woodford was the new Brewers pitcher. Dillon Dingler reached thanks to a fielding error by Joey Ortiz, but was eliminated in a force out.
Ah, at last, a silver lining! POSITION PLAYER PITCHING! Jake Rogers came out for the top of the ninth, tossing his cute little eephus pitch, and with it, he collected his first career strikeout. He collected two outs before giving up a single to Hamilton. Blake Perkins hit a groundball that took an unexpected hop to keep it from being an out, but the Tigers did manage to get out of the inning without any runs scoring, so go Jake go! In the bottom of the inning, a pinch-hitting Colt Keith hit a one-out single. Wenceel Perez, also pinch-hitting, then singled. McGonigle came through, singling and bringing Keith home. McGonigle advanced to second on defensive indifference, and that was followed by a Vierline double, that scored two more runs. The mini rally was good for the soul, but a flyout to right ended the inning and the game.
Final: Brewers 12, Tigers 4
