This week’s series against the Mets has been a tough one for the Tigers, having lost the first two games of the series, and simply hoping to avoid the sweep in the afternoon game. They’ll have a day off to recoup on Thursday, so they had a chance to really leave it all on the table today. They had Casey Mize on the mound, up against Clay Holmes for the Mets.
With one out in the top of the first, Juan Soto singled on a soft bunt because… reasons, I guess? Soto was then picked off attempting to steal
second.
Pete Alonso then singled, getting the Mets back their baserunner, but they weren’t able to convert the run. Colt Keith singled to start the home half, but three outs followed, leaving him stranded.
Mize got the Mets out in order in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Torkelson got a leadoff walk, but was soon eliminated in a double play off the bat of Wenceel Perez. Zach McKinstry singled, followed by Javier Baez reaching on catcher’s interference. A single but famed bullpen pitcher, Jake Rogers, scored Torkelson, putting the Tigers on the board first.
In the top of the third, Francisco Lindor finally got his first hit of the series with a one-out double. One out later, Alonso doubled, bringing Lindor home and tying up the game. The Mets would have to settle for the one run, but it was a vital one. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Mize was back in his groove for the fourth, getting the Mets to go three-up, three-down, though one of those outs was thanks to an incredibly committed catch by Riley Greene.
In the home half, the Tigers made a valiant effort to break up the tie. Torkelson got a leadoff single, but was then eliminated by an unassisted double play off Perez, directly to Pete Alonso. McKisntry got a ground-rule double. Too bad they couldn’t quite manage to convert baserunners into actual runs.
The Mets went 1-2-3 again in the fifth, which is a nice change of pace for this series. Colt Keith got a one-out walk in the home half. With two outs, Kerry Carpenter walked. This was it for Holmes, who was replaced by old friend Gregory Soto. A wild pitch allowed the two runners to advance into scoring position, then Riley Greene ripped a single to center, scoring two and giving the Tigers back the lead.
With the Tigers now in the lead, Mize was done for the day after five. His final line was 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K on 69 pitches. A good outing for him overall. He was replaced by Tyler Holton, who gave up a leadoff walk to Juan Soto. Pete Alonso then singled. Holton collected a single out before being replaced by Tommy Kahnle. Mark Vientos then singled to score Soto. Jeff McNeil walked, and just when things were starting to look ugly, Starling Marte hit into a double play to end the inning. In the home half, Wenceel Perez got a leadoff single, but three outs followed.
In the seventh, Kyle Finnegan had been warming, but then something appeared to be hurting him and he was out of the bullpen with Will Vest warming. Kahnle got the first two outs of the inning before giving up a walk to Lindor. That was it for him, as Vest was ready to go and came out instead. An update on Finnegan said he left the game due to right groin tightness. Day-to-day for the moment. Lindor stole second, but Vest got the final out of the inning.
Ryan Helsley was the new Mets pitcher in the bottom of the seventh. Colt Keith got a leadoff single, followed by a Gleyber Torres walk. Kerry Carpenter then came in and hit a pitch-perfect home run to right.
Spencer Torkelson got a one-out single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Justin Hagenman came on as the next reliever and got the final out of the inning.
Vest was back out for the eighth and gave up a one-out single to Nimmo. With two outs, Nimmo advanced on a wild pitch. Jeff McNeil then worked a walk, but Vest got out of the jam, collecting the final out of the inning. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Rafael Montero came out for the Tigers in the top of the ninth. He got the first two outs before walking Lindor. Lindor then advanced to second in defensive indifference. He managed to get the final out of the inning on a Soto pop-up, and the Tigers avoided the sweep, collecting their 81st win of the season.
