On Wednesday afternoon the Detroit Tigers looked to continue their recent success and extend their winning streak to… well, two games is still a streak, right? Unfortunately, they were stymied by some return-to-form pitching and just enough offence from the best team in the American League as they lost 3-0. Also, it’s really, really tough to win a game when you can only eke-out two singles in an entire game.
Making his 12th start of the year for the Tigers was Troy Melton, and he has been sensational
so far. His previous two starts have been a little shaky, though, surrendering three runs apiece in each and not going as deep into games as he had been in late July and early August. But overall his WHIP was a touch above 1 and his ERA was below 2 coming into today’s start, and I can’t wait to see how he continues to develop and refine his craft.
Freddy Peralta, the longtime Milwaukee Brewer, started for the Rays. He came to Tampa at the trade deadline after a disappointing first half with the Mets, who had traded for him in January. His previous five seasons in Milwaukee were very good, with an ERA typically in the mid-3’s, more than ten strikeouts per nine innings, and severely limiting home-run power. But this season the walks were up, the whiffs were down, and especially since coming to the Rays, his home-run rate has skyrocketed. He’d have a great game today, however.
In the top of the first Melton had a bit of trouble settling down, as has been the case this year: with one out he clipped Jonathan Aranda with a pitch and Junior Caminero followed with a single. But a ground ball to Spencer Torkelson at first base resulted in an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play, with Melton covering first.
The Rays got on the board in the second: the speedy Chandler Simpson’s grounder ticked off Melton’s glove for an infield single, and Jonny DeLuca’s double scored him all the way from first. A bunt pushed DeLuca up to third, and Cedric Mullins’ single scored him to make it 2-0.
Both Peralta and Melton then started mowing down batters, one after another, with Melton featuring lots of ground-ball outs and a boatload of different pitches. But a leadoff double and a single, at 101 and 110 mph off the bat respectively, put runners at the corners for the Rays in the top of the sixth. A fly ball to right, probably knocked down a bit by the wind, served as a sacrifice fly to put the visitors up 3-0. Melton got a lineout and groundout to limit the damage, though.
Here’s a nice sliding catch by Max Clark. (Look, this game was a little light on highlights.)
Meanwhile, Peralta allowed only his second baserunner in the bottom of the sixth, with a Brett Callahan single with two out. Did the Rays fix him? Perhaps.
Peralta departed after six innings for tough sidearmer Kevin Kelly, who continued to be tough to the Tigers. Melton had a nice, easy seventh inning, after which his day was done with the following line: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K. Tyler Kinley made his Tigers debut after being cut loose from Atlanta and signed by the Tigers, getting a popout and a pair of groundouts.
Kyle Finnegan came in for the eighth and looked pretty good, allowing a single but getting the next three batters.
Tyler Wells, a tall, tough righty, came in for the bottom of the ninth and got the Tigers to meekly go 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Tigers have a day off on Thursday and then welcome Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers to town for a three-game weekend series. Skubal is scheduled to pitch Friday night, and that is going to be absolute bedlam down at the ol’ ball yard.
Final score: Rays 3, Tigers 0
Notes and Numbers
- With his second-inning single, Dillon Dingler got a hit in his fourth consecutive game. That might not sound like much, but it’s been a rough go of it lately: before this modest streak began, he was 2-for-45 in his previous 11 games.
- Rays pitchers walked exactly one (1) Tiger this entire series: Colt Keith, in the eighth inning on Monday night.
- There’s a YouTube channel that has posted old All-Star games, and I watched a bit of the 1975 one here. The number of truly great players in this game is fantastic, of course, but what struck me was Jim Kaat’s lack-of-a-windup. The link points to the start of his appearance in the game, and it is… well, I’ll just let you watch it. Joe Morgan is completely befuddled, and Johnny Bench’s smile of confusion tells you all you need to know.
- Antoine Lavoisier was born on this day in 1743 in France. He was one of the most important chemists of history, discovering the element oxygen and proving that it was a key component of combustion. He also helped to build the metric system, which is the superior system of measurement, no matter what nutter says otherwise. Alas, in the wake of the French Revolution, and with his prominent status as part of the prior ruling-class, he met his fate at the guillotine’s blade in 1794.
