This bullpen!
It’s been a good week for the Tigers so far, and they were looking to continue the trend on Wednesday afternoon in their final game against the Giants. Jackson Jobe was on the mound for the Tigers, and Landon Roupp was up for the Giants. Kind of a bummer we don’t see Verlander this trip, but obviously with him on the IL it wasn’t meant to be.
In the first, Wilmer Flores got a two-out single, but would be the only Giants baserunner of the inning. The Tigers, likewise, managed only a single, with a one-out single by Gleyber Torres, but no runs.
Matt Chapman kicked off the second with a double, then one out later, LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled to bring Chapman home and put the Giants on the board first. Sam Huff walked, but two outs followed to end the inning with minimal damage done. In the home half, Zach McKinstry got a two-out walk, but the Tigers weren’t able to score him.
Jobe gave up a leadoff single to Heliot Ramos in the third, but Ramos was quickly eliminated by a double play. A groundout then ended the inning. Gleyber Torres was once again the Tigers only man on base in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single.
In the fourth, things got a bit rocky for Jobe, Chapman doubled, then Willy Adames walked. A sac bunt by Wade got both players into scoring position, but Jobe pitched out of the jam getting the next two batters out in order. With two outs in the home half, Justyn-Henry Malloy singled, then McKinstry was hit by a pitch. It was a good scoring opportunity, but the Tigers couldn’t make it happen.
Mike Yastrzemski walked to start the fifth, then Ramos homered right behind him, putting the Giants up 3-0. With two outs, Matt Chapman singled. That was it for Jobe, whose final line was 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 95 pitches. Not his best outing. This was likely due to a much more right-handed batter-heavy lineup, something he hadn’t really faced. Brenan Hanifee came out of the pen. Hanifee got the final out of the inning.
In the home half, Jake Rogers reached on a fielding error by Matt Chapman, and things got pretty exciting after that. Kerry Carpenter singled, then Torres walked. With the bases loaded, Colt Keith doubled to bring in two runs. That was it for Roupp, who was replaced by Randy Rodriguez. With two outs, and two strikes, Malloy hit a long single, scoring two more runs and giving the Tigers the lead in what was looking like an uncertain game.
In the top of the sixth, Sam Huff got a one-out single, then, with two outs, Tyler Holton replaced Hanifee. Holton got the final out of the inning. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Ramos opened the seventh inning with a single, but then a textbook double play eliminated the baserunner. Jung Hoo Lee took a walk, and that was it for Holton, with John Brebbia coming in next. Brebbia took out Chapman, which was basically his whole mission, so… mission accomplished! Tyler Rogers came in for the Giants, and he’s a fun rarity these days, a submariner! And dang, what a menace. Three straight outs, the Tigers’ batters didn’t have a chance.
Ahead of the eighth inning there was a slight delay as one of the Tigers’ grounds crew hurt their knee and had to be attended to before the game could resume. When things got going again, Adames reached on catcher’s interference, then Wade Jr. singled, but awkward fielding allowed both runners to get into scoring position. That was it for Brebbia, who was replaced by Tommy Kahnle. Despite some high tension, Kahnle got through the inning and no runs scored. In the home half, Ryan Walker was the newest pitcher for the Tigers to face. Wenceel Perez was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Then, with one out, McKinstry doubled. The baserunners were left stranded.
Kahnle was back in the ninth looking to shut things down, and he did just that with three outs in a row to wrap up the game and the sweep.
Final: Tigers 4, Giants 3