The Detroit Tigers are experiencing a unique moment in franchise history as they prepare to host Game 3. It’s widely recognized that the last time the Tigers played a home game, most of the rookies on the pitching staff were either in junior high or just entering high school.
The only player with postseason experience on the team is Matt Vierling. Notably, this is the first time in recent memory that the Tigers have featured so many rookies on one postseason roster. Does it matter at this point? No, not really. Nothing goes as predicted or has history may have shown us in the past.
“Absolutely not scripted. Manager AJ.Hinch said. There’s just so much stuff that goes on and you know from the very first part of it. Keider had no idea (he was going to go only one inning) and responded favorably with an incredible first inning with a ton of energy in the ballpark and an atmosphere that was second to none.”
In the Tigers’ 3-0 victory, Keider Montero and Brant Hurter showcased impressive performances, combining for 4.1 scoreless innings. Hurter picked up a big strikeout of David Fry in the second inning after Fry came in to pinch hit for Kyle Manzardo in the 3rd inning in en route to his first postseason win. When Hurter was asked about if this was expected to have this happening when he was in Toledo, Brant ended the quote perfectly.
“I would have been shocked. It didn’t seem like it was going that way on both sides for the Tigers, and how I was throwing was great. So I think I’d have been a little surprised, but also nothing’s off the table, baseball.”
A.J. Hinch matched Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt move for move as the Tigers utilized six pitchers to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard. The Guardians have not scored since the sixth inning of Game 1, marking 20 consecutive innings without a run. The Tigers pitching staff work of 20 scoreless innings matches two other spans, one in 2006 and one in 2012.
Once again, pitching chaos was in play for Hinch.
“There was no order; I had in my mind I just knew I had 10 guys available,” Hinch said. “We were going to use it. We’ve been doing this for a couple of months, and our guys responded favorably. They did an incredible job of getting ready and getting their hitters out almost perfectly, you know, in terms of coming in situations and pounding the strike zone.”
Both Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson picked the perfect moment to record their first hits of the postseason. In the sixth inning, Keith notched a one-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Torkelson then followed up with a crucial double into the left-field corner, extending Detroit’s lead to 3-0 and providing a much-needed insurance run.
“In October, you’re one swing away from having a completely different emotional reaction as a player,” Hinch said. “This isn’t the time of year to be obsessed with the stat line. It’s about productive, good at-bats.”
If there was one part of the script that was working for Hinch was the productive at-bats from Riley Greene (RBI single) Jake Rogers, who doubled and walked and Wencell Perez, who turned a grounder into right into a double with some heads up base running, kept the largest crowd in Comerica Park history at its feet. That’s baseball in Detroit on a Wednesday afternoon in October. A new script.
Detroit goes for the series win in Game 4 on Thursday, starting at 6:08pm.
Chris Brown