The Tigers made it 2-0 at home and 4-4 overall with a convincing show of power on Saturday. The pitching, particularly Jack Flaherty, was pretty sketchy, but four home runs from the Tigers set things right in a game that devolved into a slop fest in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, inducing a lengthy delay and full shenanigans mode from the broadcasts as the tarps were pulled with one out in the final frame. After a lengthy delay, the game was finally declared official with the rain
showing no sign of letting up.
A newly engaged Jack Flaherty took the mound looking to bounce back after a messy first outing of the season. Things stayed messy for a few minutes. The right-hander fired three straight balls to rookie J.J. Wetherholt, fought back in the count, and then walked him anyway. Wetherholt stole second with ease, and Flaherty nicked Ivan Herrera with a fastball to dig himself an early hole.
He did bounce back, however. A flurry of breaking balls punched out Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman grounded out on the first pitch he saw, advancing the runners. Jordan Walker stepped in and Flaherty got ahead 1-2. A slider bounced and got away from Dingler. Wetherholt broke home but Dingler recovered and got the ball back to Flaherty at the plate. Wetherholt retreated, but there was a possibile play on Herrera retreating to second, but Flaherty decided to calm things down and focus on the batter. He dialed up 96 mph and Walker got locked up to end the inning.
Things would eventually get extremely messy for Flaherty again.
Colt Keith started things off for the Tigers and immediately did damage. That damage was in the form of a smoked ground ball off starter Dustin May’s lower leg. Keith reached with a single, and May needed a while to shake that one off. Once he did, he locked up Kevin McGonigle with a high sweeper that found the zone.
May dropped in another high sweeper to Gleyber Torres in an 0-1 count, and that pitch was something to watch out for as it’s both sneaky and crushable. May missed twice to make it 2-2. The next sweeper got inside-outed by Torres, lining a single to right that sliced away from center fielder Victor Scott II. He briefly misplayed it, Joey Cora initiated the windmill protocol, and Keith raced all the way around first to home for a 1-0 lead. Kerry Carpenter stepped in, got back to back changeups away, and flicked the second one the opposite way for a two-run shot. 3-0 Tigers.
May, perhaps shaking off the effects of Keith’s ball, walked Riley Greene, but was firing 97-98 mph in there, getting Dillon Dingler on a high fastball tipped into the glove. Zach McKinstry worked a 2-2 count, really pushing May’s early pitch count, but Riley Greene ran on a high sweeper and was thrown out by Pedro Pages to end the inning.
Flaherty punched out Thomas Saggese to open the second, but he walked Nathan Church, and then a fourseamer sailed in on Pages and nicked him for a second hit batter. The Cardinals helped him out with a Scott sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Wetherholt fought off a couple of good breaking balls, but Flaherty reared back and blew him away with a high fastball to escape again.
McKinstry and Torkelson both struck out after somewhat lengthy at-bats to start the bottom of the second. May wasn’t getting any whiffs in the zone and was already dumping in five different pitches to keep hitters off balance as he felt for his command. He didn’t find it against Parker Meadows, issuing a two-out walk as his pitch count reached 55. That brought Keith back around, and he ripped another hard shot into right center field this time. Unfortunately, while Meadows cruised to third, Keith tried to stretch it into a double, but Jordan Walker in right cut him down at second.
Maybe stop running on Jordan Walker guys.
Herrera jumped on a get me over 91 mph heater for a double to open the third, and Burleson grounded out to first, getting Herrera to third. Flaherty punched out Gorman with the high fastball, and another pair of well located fastballs put Walker down 0-2. but he spat on a few breaking balls and eventually got the high fastball, pulling it into left field for an RBI single. Saggese grounded out to Keith at third to end it, but Flaherty’s pitch count was up to 60 and on pace to require at least four innings from the bullpen.
With Justin Verlander hitting the 15-day IL and Keider Montero not stretched out fully to start, A.J. Hinch was going to have some tricky decisions as to how to use his long relievers in this one.
While I pondered the contingencies, Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the third with a solid single up the middle. A wild pitchto Torres got away from Pages, and McGonigle beat feet to second. In a 2-2 count, Torres thoughtfully stayed inside a 2-2 May offering to bounce one to the right side and move McGonigle to third. Carpenter then did his job as well, lifting a fly ball out to Scott in center. McGonigle tagged and Scott’s throw was wide. 4-1 Tigers. Greene lifted a towering flyout to left to end the inning.
After some shaky command early on, Flaherty got himself pretty dialed in and that produced a quick fourth. Church popped up a first pitch slider to open the fourth, and he carved up Pages for his sixth strikeout for good measure. Scott flew out to McKinstry in right to end a pretty snappy inning. Just what the doctor ordered for Flaherty.
May clipped Dingler with a fastball that sailed inside to start the Tigers half. McKinstry fell behind 0-2, but May tried to drop in a sweeper and left it up a bit. McKinstry launched it to right for a two-run shot and a 6-1 lead. Torkelson grounded out, but Meadows hammered a drive deep to left center field and Scott and Church didn’t communicate well and it dropped in with Meadows flying around the bases to third for a triple. That was it for May, as left-hander Justin Bruihl came out of the Cards’ bullpen.
That got Hinch to pinch-hit in Matt Vierling for Keith. I get Hinch wanting to get Vierling into the game as he hasn’t had much work so far, but it’s pretty tough to put Keith’s hot bat out of the lineup. Still, moving McKinstry to third and Vierling in the game in right field improved the defense with a big lead. Vierling did the job, lifting a fly ball deep enough to left that Meadows tagged and scored easily. 7-1 Tigers. McGonigle grounded out to end the inning.
As good as Flaherty looked for a few innings, Tigers fans know he can completely lose the plot at any moment, and that quickly unfolded in the fifth. Flaherty hit his third batter of the game to open the fifth, yanking a one-hopped changeup into Wetherholt’s leg. As hot as Wetherholt has been early on, that’s not the worst outcome, but it was another leadoff man reaching. He followed that up by walking Herrera in classic Flaherty rollercoaster fashion. Burleson got a first pitch knuckle curve down and drilled it into the left field corner, and just like that Flaherty was crumbling. 7-2 Tigers. A walk to Gorman followed, and just like that a pretty good outing for Flaherty went completely sidewise as Drew Anderson entered with the bases loaded, no outs, and a run already in.
It’s worth noting that Drew Anderson has been in a starting role the past two years and is entirely unused to this scenario. You can’t plan for your starter melting down that quickly. Still, the job is the job, and Jordan Walker got a 1-0 fastball on the inner edge and torched it deep to left center for a grand slam. 7-6 Tigers.
Woof. Quadruple woof.
Anderson got two quick outs after the salami, but then sailed a breaking ball that hit Pages for the Tigers fourth hit batter. Brant Hurter was warming. Anderson punched out Scott to finally end a nightmare inning for the Tigers, but it was a whole new ballgame.
Torres struck out and Carpenter lined out to second against Bruihl, but Riley Greene drew a two-out walk. Oli Marmol turned to RHP Matt Svanson to face Dingler. The Tigers’ catcher challenged a called strike three and won, and ultimately walked as well. That brought up McKinstry, and he ripped a single through the right side to score Greene for an 8-6 lead, and he and Dingler advanced on a throw into home. Torkelson made a bid, but it fell short on the warning track in left to end the inning.
Hurter came on in the sixth, continuing the irritation by throwing six straight balls, walking Wetherholt, but getting Herrera to ground to Torres, who got the out at second on a bang-bang play. Burleson grounded to Torkelson, who fired to McGonigle at second and the Tigers’ shortstop gunned it to Hurter at first for the ol’ 3-6-1 double play.
Svanson threw a 1-1 cookie to Meadows to start the bottom of the sixth, and he lined it to left for a leadoff single. Vierling then grounded into a double play, and McGonigle popped out to send up to the seventh.
With storms working into Wayne County, holding the lead was crucial in the seventh, and Hinch went to Will Vest. He blew away Gorman for the first out and got ahead of Walker 0-2. The athletic right fielder got to 1-2, and flicked a slider down below the zone off the end of the bat for a single to center. Vest picked off Walker, but Walker just kept running, beating Torkelson’s throw to second. Maybe his cleat came off the bag, but the Tigers didn’t challenge. Vest dug in and refuted the Cardinals attempt at scoring by getting routine grounders from Saggese and Church to end the frame.
That was huge. The lead was still 8-6 as the groundscrew got the tarps prepped. Gleyber Torres helped the cause with a drive to right that just cleared the wall and Walker’s outstretched glove for his first homer of the year. Hey, the power showed up. Three homers on the day was what the doctor ordered. Home cooking, folks. 9-6 Tigers.
Carpenter made a bid to right field but came up short, and Riley Greene grounded out. The Cardinals had missed a couple of challenge opportunities in the game, but they finally used one on a two strike pitch to Dingler and won, striking him out.
Tyler Holton took over in the eighth, and Marmol pinch-hit right-hander Ramon Urias in for the catcher Pages to get the matchup. Holton somehow managed to nick Urias to give up the leadoff baserunner. That made six total hit by pitches in this game, five of them from Tigers’ pitching. Yahel Pozo pinch-hit for the center fielder Scott as the rain started falling in Comerica Park.
Holton got Pozo to ground into a double play 6-4-3, and that was well timed, as Wetherholt singled to right field. Holton and Herrera locked into a lengthy battle as fans fled the seats for the concourse. Torkelson laid out on a 2-2 foul flare beyond first base but just couldn’t make the play. The next pitch was a grounder up the middle with McGonigle playing toward third base against the right-handed hitter. Torres ranged deep beyond second base to make the play and fired a long off-balance throw to get the out at first. Nice play. 9-6 Tigers headed to the bottom of the eighth.
Right-hander Chris Roycroft took over for the Cardinals, and now it was really dumping down rain as Zach McKinstry stepped into the box. He grounded out, but Torkelson sprayed a cutter the opposite way for a single. Meadows took a called strike three on a good pitch on the inner edge. With rain falling down the brim of his helmet, it was Matt Vierling who provided the thunder, hammering an opposite field shot over the right field wall for an 11-6 lead. Four home runs for the Tigers today, and justification for Hinch’s decision to insert Vierling.
Ok that’s great, but let’s move this along guys. Kevin McGonigle isn’t going to give up on an at-bat no matter the scenario though. He challenged a called strike and was, of course, correct, drawing a two-out walk. Roycroft walked Torres as well, and we salute all the fans who brought ponchos or simply accepted the deep, thorough soaking being delivered to stay in their seats. Carpenter struck out, moving us mercifully to the ninth with Kenley Jansen coming on as he’d been warmed up throughout the whole inning prior to Vierling’s shot.
The veteran closer took over and now it was absolutely pouring and Jansen was just trying to get a grip. He walked Burleson, but Jansen dusted Gorman with a high cutter, and that was it as conditions were downright ridiculous. Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson called for the tarp as Jansen and Burleson laughed about the absolute downpour they were playing in.
Dirks began lecturing on proper tarp unrolling technique with Benetti, and it was time to just wait for this game to be called official. The broadcast crew took viewer questiosn, and we learned about the wonder of leeches in Michigan ponds, the cost of a tarp ($7000-$10,000), and there was brief consideration of trying to set a record for most people to macarena at once with the remaining home crowd, which Tiger would make the best world leader (Dingler, McKinstry, and Will Vest all drew consideration) and so on.
Finally the game was called with the rain showing no sign of letting up, and the Tigers moved to 4-4 on the year.
The Tigers finished with 12 hits, 4 homers, and 6 walks drawn in this one. With Justin Verlander on the IL, Keider Montero will get the start on Sunday evening as the Tigers look to get on the good side of .500 before heading to Minnesota for four starting on Monday.
