A nice way to wrap up this little road trip.
It was getaway day in St. Louis, and with the series tied 1-1, the Tigers were hoping for a series win before they left Missouri. They were going ye olde bullpen route, with Brant Hurter taking the opener role. The Cardinals were relying on Andre Pallante.
The Tigers couldn’t manage an opening homer like they did on Tuesday, and went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. The Cardinals did much the same, going down in order.
Things got a little more exciting in the second. Riley Greene got a leadoff single, followed by a beautifully placed single from Spencer Torkelson. A sac fly from Kerry Carpenter brought Greene home, but the Cardinals were able to get ahead of Torkelson coming up to second and got the out there. A 7-5-4 double play, which is certainly not something you see every day.
In the home half, Ivan Herrera took a leadoff walk. Then Alec Burleson singled on a bunt right to McKinstry, who made a very game effort to get the ball back to first, but just didn’t have enough time. Nolan Arenado flied out thanks to a great catch from Justyn-Henry Malloy in right, and two more outs followed.
The Tigers went three-up, three-down in the top of the third. In the home half, things started in a really wild way. Victor Scott II showed bunt, and the ball headed right into the dirt after hitting him in the hand. He was tagged out by Dillon Dingler—while Scott was laying on the ground immobile—and the Cardinals challenged the out call and there was quite the delay while the umpires tried to determine what was going on without a proper review look. The call was overturned, but because he was showing bunt the hit-by-pitch was a strike, and sometimes I feel very perplexed by baseball, but here we are. He ultimately struck out anyway. And the rest of the Cardinals order went much more quickly and quietly back to the dugout.
In the top of the fourth, Riley Greene got a two-out walk. Then Spencer Torkelson hit a fly to right that should probably have been caught, but turned into an RBI double, bringing Greene in and getting Torkelson to second safely at last.
In the home half, Chase Lee came in to relieve Hurter, who did a bit more than just open. Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch to lead things off, but after a strikeout, Contreras and Burleson were both out on a double play.
In the top of the fifth, Dingler got a leadoff single, and Trey Sweeney took a walk to follow him. Unfortunately, it was a good old-fashioned LOB situation as three outs followed. In the home half the Cardinals went 1-2-3.
With one out in the sixth, Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson took back-to-back walks. After the second out, Pallante was done, giving way to Phil Maton. Maton almost immediately gave up a single to Dingler, scoring Greene, but the inning ended as Torkelson made a push for home and got tagged out.
Sean Guenther was next out of the Tigers’ pen. Victor Scott II singled to start things off. With two outs, and the minimum batters faced, Hinch went to the bullpen to get Brenan Hanifee. A Contrera singled scored Scott ot finally put the Cardinals on the board, and the pressure was certainly on for the Tigers to stop the damage there. A groundout thankfully ended the inning with minimal disaster.
In the seventh, with one out, Javier Baez was hit by a pitch. Kerry Carpenter then walked. With two outs, Maton was done for the day, replaced by Jojo Romero, facing a pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez, who was hitting for McKinstry. Ibanez took a ball to the ankle and it took him down completely, looking very painful. He toughed it out and took first with the bases loaded. Riley Greene struck out, leaving a really great opportunity at the plate. In the home half Burleson singled, a little blooper that just defied the outfielders. With one out in the inning, Hinch turned to Tyler Holton. Nolan Gorman then singled, and after that, a wild pitch allowed both baserunners to advance. But Holton pitched out of the jam, and the Cardinals were unable to add any runs.
Chris Roycroft was the new Cardinals pitcher, and gave up a leadoff walk to Torkelson. Colt Keith then doubled to put two runners in scoring position. John King replaced Roycroft, and Sweeney hit a sac fly to bring Torkelson home. Baez singled to score Keith. A passed ball allowed Baez to advance to second. Gleyber Torres came in as a pinch-hitter was the final out of the inning, but the Tigers were able to add two.
Beau Brieske came on in the bottom of the eighth and got the Cardinals out in order.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, really hoping a four-run lead would be enough to keep them locked in. Brieske did what he was called in to do and got three outs in order to end the inning and secure the win. Despite the brutal first game on Monday, the Tigers ended up winning the series.
Final: Tigers 5, Cardinals 1