A day so nice, they played twice.
Thanks to the weather, the Tigers can’t seem to shake off over the past few weeks, Tuesday’s game was postponed to a split doubleheader today. So let’s dive into how both of those games played out.
Game One: Tigers 11, Nationals 2
Game one saw the Tigers utilize a bullpen outing, with Tyler Holton getting the nod as Opener. The Nationals went for a traditional starter in Trevor Williams (though they would ultimately go very similar distances in this game).
The Tigers didn’t waste any time getting on the board. Colt Keith kicked things off with a double, then Gleyber Torres took a walk. With one out, Riley Greene destroyed a three-run homer, and the Tigers were off to the races.
Spencer Torkelson singled, then Zach McKinstry doubled. With two men on and two outs, Jake Rogers came in clutch with another home run. That was followed by back-to-back singles from Trey Sweeney and Colt Keith, but neither runner scored. Still, the Tigers were up 6-0 at the mid-point of the first inning.
In the home half, the Nationals went 1-2-3.
The Tigers went down in order in the top of the second. In the home half, Daylen Lile was the Nationals’ sole baserunner with a two-out single, but they were unable to bring him home.
The Tigers’ bats woke up again in the third. McKinstry and Parker Meadows hit back-to-back singles. Then, with one out, Trey Sweeney hit a sac fly to score McKinstry. Only the one run scored for the inning.
Brant Hurter was next out of the Tigers’ pen for the bullpen game. He gave up a walk to CJ Abrams, but that was it in terms of baserunners for the Nationals.
Jackson Rutledge came on for the Nationals in the top of the fourth. Gleyber Torres walked, then Wenceel Perez singled. And Riley Greene decided to really hammer home his All-Star campaign with his second home three-run homer of the night. McKinstry collected another single as well, but was left stranded.
In the home half of the fourth with two outs, Alex Call and Daylen Lile got back-to-back singles, but neither were brought in to score.
Trey Sweeney opened the fifth with a walk, followed by a single to Keith, but the Tigers were unable to score any runs. In the home half, Abrams singled and was able to reach second on a throwing error by Colt Keith. James Wood then singled to bring Abrams home, getting the Nationals their first run of the game. Tyler Owens came in to replace Hurter, and gave up a single to Amed Rosario, but the Nats would need to settle for the one run.
Eduardo Salazar was next out of the Nationals’ pen for the sixth and gave up a leadoff home run to Spencer Torkelson. Three outs followed, but the Tigers got back the run they’d just given up.
Alex Call opened the home half with a single, followed by a walk to Lile. After a lineout, a force out off the bat of Drew Millas eliminated Lile but left men at the corners. Jacob Young walked to load the bases, and then a Josh Bell walk forced a run in. Dylan Smith replaced Owens at that point, and got the final out of the inning.
Andry Lara game out of the Nationals’ pen in the seventh and got the Tigers out in order. In the bottom of the seventh, Paul DeJong walked, followed by a single from Alex Call, then a two-out single to Brady House loaded the bases, but the Tigers got out of the jam and no additional runs scored.
In the eighth, both the Tigers and Nationals went 1-2-3.
McKinstry started the top of the ninth with a single, but three outs then followed to leave him stranded. While Rosario started the home half with a walk, the Tigers got the next three batters in order to finish the game and take the first W of the doubleheader.
Game Two: Nationals 9, Tigers 4
The evening game saw a more traditional pitching matchup of Jack Flaherty for the Tigers and Mackenzie Gore for the Nationals.
In the top of the first, Jahmai Jones took a walk with two outs, but was ultimately left stranded. The home half of the inning was brutal for Flaherty. It was very obviously not his game almost right out of the gate. With one out, James Wood and Luis Garcia Jr. got back-to-back singles. A Nathaniel Lowe single then brought Wood home and put the Nationals on the board first. Josh Bell singled to score Garcia. Then Paul DeJong walked. Blessedly, Daylen Lile hit into a double play to end the inning. The results could have been worse, but it wasn’t looking great for Flaherty’s command. It took him 41 pitches to get through the inning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. Flaherty adjusted well in the home half, getting the Nationals out in order.
Another three-up, three-down inning for the Tigers in the third. In the home half, James Wood got a leadoff walk, then with two outs, stole second. The stolen base would come back to haunt them, as Josh Bell singled to bring Wood home. The Nationals would have to settle for the one run, but it continued to widen the gap the Tigers would need to make up.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Jahmai Jones singled. Spencer Torkelson then doubled to bring Jones home. It was a long, long double that really almost left the park. Suddenly, the Tigers had something going.
Matt Vierling walked. Wenceel Perez hit into what was initially ruled a double play, though after the Tigers challenged the call, only the out at second was upheld, the out call at first was overturned, so it was a force out, and the Tigers had runners at the corners. Dillon Dingler walked to load things up. Unfortunately, a Baez strikeout ended the inning and left all three runners stranded. The Nationals went 1-2-3 in the home half.
The Tigers were three-up, three-down in the top of the fifth. The Nationals likewise went down in order in the home half. It’s certainly worth pausing at this point, since Flaherty’s night appeared to be done, that despite his very ugly start to the game, he seemed to course correct well, getting seven straight strikeouts. Flaherty’s final line for the game was 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K on 97 pitches. A solid turnaround.
With one out in the sixth, Spencer Torkelson walked. Then Matt Vierling singled, sending Torkelson to third, and chasing Gore from the game. Brad Lord came in from the Nationals’ bullpen and for the second out of the inning. Colt Keith came in to pinch-hit for Dingler, and Torkelson was able to score, but the third out of the inning came as Vierling tried to get the tying run across.
Chase Lee replaced Flaherty in the bottom of the sixth and got the Nats out in order.
Javier Baez kicked off the seventh with a single. With one out, Jose A. Ferrer came in to face—and strike out—a pinch-hitting Riley Greene. Gleyber Torres then came through with a single. Two out, two on. Jahmai Jones then had the go-ahead hero moment of the game with a double to score two runs. It was also a good indicator of how many Tigers fans were in the stands, because it got loud. A strikeout ended the inning, but the Tigers had the lead.
It was a three-up, three-down inning for the Nationals in the bottom of the seventh.
Cole Henry came out for the Nationals in the eighth. Jake Rogers got a two-out single, but no runs scored. In the home half, things went poorly for the Tigers. Tommy Kahnle came in for the Tigers in relief and gave up a leadoff single to CJ Abrams, then James Wood walked. Luis Garcia Jr. walked to load things up. A Nathaniel Lowe triple then put the Nationals right back in the lead. Josh Bell then doubled to score Lowe. Brenan Hanifee relieved a struggling Kahnle. Alex Call replaced Bell as a pinch-runner. Paul DeJong singled to score Call. Daylen Lile then singled. All this with no outs. Those outs did finally come, back-to-back to end the inning, but one more run scored on the second out of the inning as a Jacob Young groundout scored DeJong, and by the time it was over, the Nationals were up 9-4.
Kyle Finnegan was the new Nationals’ pitcher in the ninth, and the Tigers didn’t manage to stage a comeback, so it was a split doubleheader in the truest sense at the end of the day.