close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • Detroit Tigers use pitch chaos to shut out Cleveland Guardians
    news

    Detroit Tigers use pitch chaos to shut out Cleveland Guardians

    Vaseline Posted on

    Everyone was singing and singing and waving orange towels.

    “Let’s go, Tigers!” sang the crowd before the Comerica Park playoffs. “Let’s go, Tigers!”

    Tyler Holton was on the mound. Ninth inning. Opposite Austin Hedges.

    Welcome to the first playoff game at Comerica Park in a decade.

    And it didn’t disappoint.

    Holton eliminated Hedges. Fireworks went off. Smoke shot into the air. And Paws waved his flag.

    What a victory.

    What a complete team victory. The Tigers got some great pitching, some timely hitting and great defense in a 3-0 win over Cleveland in Game 3 of the ALDS, as the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five affair.

    PARTY IN THE D: Detroit Tigers playoff baseball brings joy, even beyond the park

    The two teams will play Game 4 at 6:08 PM (TNT) at Comerica Park, and a win will send the Tigers to the ALCS, which begins Monday in Kansas City, Missouri or New York.

    This was the first home game since October 5, 2014 – 3,657 days of waiting – and there was a lot going on.

    The Tigers’ hot hitters stayed hot – rookie Parker Meadows got a hit for the fifth straight game, and Jake Rogers came through again, got another hit and scored a run.

    Cold hitters suddenly found hits – both Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson had huge hits and drove in runs.

    The Tigers showed impressive defense as Matt Vierling climbed the ladder and made a huge defensive play.

    And AJ Hinch unleashed his “pitching chaos,” using six pitchers in the shutout.

    A team victory in every respect.

    PACK THE PARK: Detroit Tigers set the Comerica Park record for postseason attendance at 44,855

    The defensive jewel

    Hinch turned to Will Vest in the top of the seventh.

    With two on and two out, Vest faced wanted hitter David Fry in a huge moment. The tension built up.

    And Fry crushed a line drive to the left side of the infield – it looked like a two-run RBI.

    But Vierling jumped into the air, reached as high as he could reach and grabbed the ball way over his head, coming down with his fist: “Yes!”

    Oh, isn’t that enough for you?

    How about Parker Meadows flying over the outfield and grabbing a line drive in the eighth inning.

    The arms race

    Tigers manager AJ Hinch once again unleashed “pitching chaos.”

    The really amazing part? He started with a few rookies.

    Keider Montero, who wasn’t even on the playoff roster for the AL wild-card series win over Houston, got the start and got through the first inning with just six pitches, five of which were strikeouts.

    Most importantly, he got José Ramírez to fly out on one pitch.

    Then Hinch went one step further. The Guardians had six lefties in their batting order and a pair of switch hitters. So Hinch brought in Brant Hurter, a southpaw.

    Then the cat-and-mouse game began – all because of the way Hinch had used his bullpen. Cleveland brought in Jhonkensy Noel as a pinch-hitter in the second inning. But Hurter got the outfielder they call “Big Christmas” to give a gift of his own: a fly ball to center.

    And Hurter moved Bo Naylor into third place.

    Hurter had bad luck in the third inning. Steven Kwan hit a ball up the middle that deflected off Hurter and Trey Sweeney couldn’t make a play, throwing the ball away and moving Kwan to second.

    Hinch intentionally walked Ramírez — for the sixth time this season.

    And Hurter got Naylor to ground out to first base.

    Cleveland burned another pinch-hitter in the third inning, Fry, who struck out Hurter.

    More importantly, Hinch got Guardians manager Stephen Vogt to make moves that would cripple him later in the match.

    Hurter, who pitched in Double-A Erie last year, threw 3⅓ innings, scattering five hits but holding them scoreless. He was relieved by Beau Brieske, who threw two innings, struckout five and recorded no runs.

    When Brieske walked away, he received a standing ovation.

    And he applauded the fans before diving into the dugout.

    And Will Vest was brilliant too, throwing 1⅓ innings of scoreless ball in the seventh and eighth innings.

    Hot hitters stay hot

    Meadows came into this game with an interesting stat: He had recorded a goal in each of his first four career postseason games, the first Tiger to do so since Don Kelly in 2011.

    And then he made it five in a row by opening the game with a sharp single.

    Then Greene punched it in and fired a splitter low and away through a hole in the infield for an early 1-0 lead.

    Another hot hitter? Catcher Jake Rogers, who came into the game hitting .308 in the postseason. And he continued the heat, starting the third inning with a double.

    After Vogt intentionally walked Kerry Carpenter (the hero of Game 2), Vierling drove in Rogers with a sacrifice fly to left.

    Cold hitters contribute

    In the sixth inning, the Tigers scored again, when a cold hitter suddenly came through.

    Spencer Torkelson opened the postseason with 0-for-14.

    But he hit a huge double down the left field line in the sixth inning to drive in Colt Keith as the Tigers took a 3-0 lead.

    MORE FROM JEFF SEIDEL: Tigers’ Trey Sweeney was called for a throw-in for the Jack Flaherty trade. Give me a break

    Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, visit freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like