Another late night for Tigers fans as the Tigers tackled game two against the Athletics in Sacramento. After losing Monday’s game, they were really looking for a win. To get there, they were relying on Charlie Morton on the mound, while the A’s were leaning on Osvaldo Bido.
With two outs in the top of the first, Kerry Carpenter singled, but the Tigers would ultimately leave him stranded. Things got off to an early bad start for Morton and the Tigers in the bottom of the first. Nick Kurtz hit a leadoff
single, then Shea Langeliers singled behind him. After one out, a wild pitch by Morton allowed the runners to advance into scoring position. Then, with two outs, Jacob Wilson homered, bringing in three runs. Colby Thomas got a walk, but Morton was able to get the final out of the inning and stop the bleeding.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. Morton’s second trip to the mound went a lot better, as he got the A’s out in order.
In the top of the third, Jake Rogers got a one-out walk. Colt Keith followed that with a single, then Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases. Kerry Carpenter struck out, so it was all up to Riley Greene. Greene got to a 1-2 count, then absolutely obliterated a home run over the batter’s eye in the outfield. If this was Banana Ball, the game would be over. Insane stuff. Riley Greene’s first grand slam, and it was on a 471-foot home run. The longest Tigers home run of the Statcast era.
In the home half, Langeliers hit a leadoff single, and Brent Rooker singled right on his heels, sending Langeliers to third. Tyler Soderstrom singled, sending Langeliers home to re-tie the game at 4-4. Jacob Wilson then grounded into a force out that allowed Rooker to score and put the A’s in the lead. A second force out helped Morton a lot, though a wild pitch let Cobly Thomas advance to second. Morton did ultimately get out of the jam, but this was proving to be one of those games.
Bido’s day was done after three innings, replaced by Justin Sterner. The Tigers went three-up, three-down. In the bottom of the inning, Nick Kurtz got a two-out single, but he would be the only baserunner for the inning and no runs scored.
With one out in the fifth, Colt Keith hit a solo homer to tie things up again. He was the only Tigers’ baserunner of the inning, though the A’s did swap pitchers again with two outs, turning to Hogan Harris.
Brent Rooker kicked off the home half with a double, but three outs followed to leave him stranded.
Riley Greene started the sixth inning with a single. Then, with two outs, Zach McKinstry walked. That was it for Harris, who was replaced by Tyler Ferguson. Ferguson got the final out of the inning. Morton was done after five, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR on 86 pitches. Not a great night for him overall, but when he was on, it looked good. Troy Melton came on to replace him. Darell Hernaiz got a one-out single, but Melton kept things under control to shut down the inning.
Heading into the seventh, Jake Rogers got a leadoff single, then Colt Keith singled with a comebacker right to Ferguson. After a brief delay to ensure Ferguson was still able to continue, two outs in a row threatened to put a damper on the Tigers’ rally efforts. The efforts were for naught, though, as a third out in a row ended the inning. Things got a little messy for Melton in the home half, as Rooker reached on a fielding error by Colt Keith. But despite the ugly play, Melton got out of the risky situation with thanks to a nice final pop out to Zach McKinstry.
In the top of the eighth, still tied, the A’s brought in their next reliever, Michael Kelly. With one out, Wenceel Perez walked. He then advanced to second as McKinstry singled. There was some confusion in the play as Perez seemed to pause mid-run. He was on his way to third, but slipped and returned to second, barely making it in safely. The call at second was reviewed but upheld, leaving two runners on with one out. After another out, a pinch-hitting Dillon Dingler came up, hoping to be the hero to break up the tie. That didn’t end up happening, so the Tigers would have one last chance in the ninth.
Things got a little nutty in the home half. Colby Thomas reached first on a fielding error by Zach McKinstry. Lawrence Butler then grounded into a truly absurd double play. He hit a high fly ball into the infield, but it was missed by Colt Keith. Lawrence, however, wasn’t paying attention, assuming the ball would be caught, he was practically on his way back to the dugout instead of making a security run to first. Melton was quick on his toes, nabbing the ball after Keith missed it, and inducing a deeply unlikely double play. A flyout ended the inning, and it was back in the Tigers’ court.
Elvis Alvarado came in for the ninth, and he got the Tigers out in order. Kyle Finnegan came in out of the Tigers’ pen for the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Langeliers hit a double. Rooker hit a massive foul ball, but then was a called strike on a pitch that was decidedly below the zone. That unexpected gift meant the Tigers would get another chance in extra innings.
The game headed into the 10th, and with one out, a wild pitch by Alvarado allowed the ghost runner, Kerry Carpenter, to advance to third. Wenceel Perez had a remarkably patient at-bat with an inside pitch that knocked him on his butt and then plenty of fouls, which ultimately ended in Perez getting a walk, and putting runners at the corners. Zach McKinstry came to the plate, worked a full count (with another crazy inside pitch), and managed to lace a perfectly placed groundball to right, scoring Carpenter. Alvardo was done, replaced by Eduarniel Núñez, who got the final out of the inning.
The victory moment was short-lived, as Will Vest came in for the bottom of the tenth, and a Soderstrom single scored ghost runner Rooker. Jacob Wilson walked. Colby Thomas then repeatedly attempted to bunt, to the point of possible injury, before successfully getting an infield bunt to advance the baserunners into scoring position. For the Lawrence Butler at-bat, the Tigers shifted to a five-infielder formation, but Butler ended up drawing a walk to load the bases. Hernaiz then drew a walk, which walked in the walk-off winner.
