It’s still spring training though, so no worries.
Monday night’s matchup with the San Francisco Giants fooled some people. With two final Grapefruit League games scheduled in Oracle Park, it felt a bit like the regular season was underway. Fortunately, that was not the case because the Tigers bullpen got beat up a bit and they didn’t do too much at the plate. Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson both homered, but otherwise it was all Giants for most of the game until a ninth inning rally from the Tigers made it a 6-5 loss.
With both Casey Mize and Jackson Jobe scheduled to pitch on Tuesday night, the Tigers used this first of two in Oracle Park to workout their bullpen. While it’s a bit odd to go to a major league park and play Grapefruit League games, it was actually a refreshing change and Oracle Park is a stellar park for a night game. The vibes were good.
The Tigers had Justyn-Henry Malloy in the DH spot and leading off. He struck out on a Robbie Ray slider to open the game, and Andy Ibanez and Gleyber Torres went down in order. Tyler Holton had a rocky first inning, as Heliot Ramos crushed a 434 foot drive to center to lead it off for the Giants. A pair of two-out singles threatened to turn it into a crooked inning, but Holton got Lamont Wade Jr. to fly out to end the threat.
New Tiger Manuel Margot singled in the second inning in his first AB as a Tiger, but that was all they could muster. Brenan Hanifee is still battling for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, and he allowed a single but no more, striking out Tyler Fitzgerald along the way. The Tigers went in order in the third, while Jason Foley spun a solid 1-2-3 inning.
The Tigers then went throwback mode in the top of the fourth to seize the lead. Riley Greene ambushed a Robbie Ray slider and crushed a majestic shot into McCovey Cove that hugged the foul line the whole way past the pole. Spencer Torkelson was up next, and he took a 93.5 mph fastball and smoked his fifth home run of the spring to make this a 2-1 Tigers lead. Everyone stay calm.
Andrew Chafin was up next, and he allowed a one-out single to Wade, but punched out Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski to strand him. That’s five strikeouts in his last six hitters for Chafin, who still isn’t throwing quite his usual 91-92 mph, but appears to be rounding into form.
Ray was still in the game in the fifth. Ryan Kreidler hammered a first pitch fastball off the wall in left-center for a triple with two outs, but a drive from Malloy went straight to Ramos in left.
After the Tigers failed to cash in Kreidler, Beau Brieske took over in the fifth. Of all the Tigers main relievers during last season’s stretch run, Brieske has seemed the most in danger of starting the year in Triple-A. He started off against Tyler Fitzgerald, and the left handed hitter smoked a line drive to right field. Manuel Margot didn’t read the velocity off the bat and it sailed just over his glove for a triple. Heliot Ramos followed with a solid single to left field to tie the game 2-2.
Willy Adames lined out to Greene in left, but Ramos stole second and Jung-Ho Lee walked. That brought Chris Fetter to the mound for a chat. Brieske froze Matt Chapman, but Patrick Bailey smoked a double to score Ramos and Lee to make it 4-2 Giants. Brant Hurter took over and closed out the inning.
Robbie Ray walked Ibáñez to start the sixth, and that ended his night. Velocity isn’t what it used to be, but Ray is still pretty good when he’s not hanging the slider. Tarik Skubal taught him his changeup grip this offseason, and that might be a weapon for Ray if he can figure out the release. Right-hander Lou Trivino took over for the Giants.
The inning ended quickly, as Gleyber Torres worked a full count but struck out swinging as Ibáñez was going on the pitch, and he was cut down at second by Bailey. Greene flew out, and the Tigers sent new free agent reliever John Brebbia to the mound in the bottom of the sixth.
Brebbia got Flores to fly out, but then walked Yastrzemski. He bounced back to lock up Fitzgerald with a pair of fastballs and struck him out, but Ramos stayed hot and banged a double off the right field wall to make it 5-2 Giants. Adames flew out to end the inning.
Spencer Bivens took over in the seventh for the Giants. Torkelson lined out to right field, but Kerry Carpenter dumped a blooper over Fitzgerald for a single. At that point, Trey Sweeney took over from Javy Báez at shortstop and pinch-hit for him by grounding into a double play.
The Tigers went with Tommy Kahnle and his changeup of doom in the bottom half. He set the Giants down in order with pretty routine contact, and we were on to the eighth.
Right-hander Tyler Rogers and his submarine slider was up next, and the Tigers didn’t like that much. Dillon Dingler struck out, and Kreidler chopped one to shortstop for the second out of the inning. Colt Keith pinch-hit for Malloy to get his first AB of the game, but he too grounded out to end the frame.
Will Vest had the eighth for the Tigers and he had a rough go. Sam Huff led off with a single, and then Brett Wisely got a poor 0-2 slider up in the zone and hammered it off the wall in right center field for an RBI triple. 6-2 Giants. Vest bounced back to strike out Luis Matos, and got out of the inning without further damage.
Last call for the Tigers.
The Giants sent a hard-throwing lefty in the mound in the form of Erik Miller to close this out. McKinstry grounded out, and Hao-Yu Lee pinch-hit for Torres and got blown away by high heat. Andrew Navigato was the Tigers last hope, hitting for Greene. He put together a solid AB and took some tough high fastballs to draw a walk. Torkelson smoked another deep drive to right field this time. It banged off the wall for a double and Kreidler raced home to make this a 6-3 game.
Kerry Carpenter also wanted all his ABs, and he paddled a sharp single up the middle to make it 6-4. Unfortunately, Trey Sweeney made the final out, and that was it for this one.
Another very good game from Torkelson and good swings from Greene and Kreidler as well. In other news, Kreidler didn’t have any interesting chances, but he looked fine in center field and continues to swing the bat a little better than we’ve seen from him.
RHP Jackson Jobe will take on RHP Jordan Hicks at 8:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday night in San Francisco. RHP Casey Mize is also scheduled to pitch. The Tigers will then have an off day on Wednesday as they head down the coast to start the 2025 season in LA against the Dodgers on Thursday night.