No losing streaks here.
After a rough loss on Monday, the Tigers were looking for a comeback against the Cardinals on Tuesday night. They had Tarik Skubal on the mound, which always helps the odds, and the Cardinals were leaning on Erick Fedde.
The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board, likely wanting to build run support for Skubal as quickly as possible, considering how things went on Monday. Kerry Carpenter hit his 10th homer of the season to put the Tigers on the board with their first batter.
Zach McKinstry got a one-out double, then a Riley Greene single brought him home to give Detroit two runs.
In the home half, it was a pretty quick 1-2-3 for Skubal.
The second inning, the Tigers went three-up, three-down. The Cardinals, meanwhile, started the second with a Willson Contreras single. Two outs later, a very rare wild pitch from Skubal sent Contreras to second, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Headinf into the the third, Gleyber Torres got a one-out single, then one out later, Riley Greene crushed a two-run homer to double the Tigers’ lead. That was it for the Tigers in the third, and the Cardinals went down in order.
The fourth was a 1-2-3 inning for both clubs.
In the fifth, the Tigers went down in order to start the inning. In the home half, Ivan Herrera singled to start the inning, and that’s where things started to get a little rough for Skubal. Nolan Arenando hit a two-run homer. Skubal got the next two outs before giving up a walk to Victor Scott II. The final out of the inning came, but it was one of the rougher innings we’ve seen from Skubal in quite some time.
Steven Matz came out of the Cardinals’ bullpen in relief, and he got the Tigers out in order. In the home half, Masyn Winn got a leadoff single. With one out, a balk was called on Skubal for doing some very minor shuffling, and Winn got to second, and then advanced to third on the second out of the inning. Herrera then singled, scoring Winn, and that was it for Tarik Skubal’s day. His final line for the day was 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR on 94 pitches. Brenan Hanifee was in for relief. Arenado then singled, to put two on. Jordan Walker then singled, and only a diving stop from Trey Sweeney saved it from being a run. With the bases loaded, Hanifee got out of the jam, and the Tigers escaped the inning with the narrow lead still on their side.
The Tigers once again went 1-2-3 in the top of the inning before turning things over to their next reliever, Tyler Holton. Victor Scott II doubled to start things off, then with one out, Mason Winn hit a sac fly to score Scott and tie the game up 4-4. It was the only run of the inning for the Cardinals, but it was enough to make it must-win for both sides.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Kyle Leahy replaced Matz, then collected the final out of the inning. In the home half, Will Vest came in to hopefully keep the score tied. Herrera got a one-out walk. Then, a pinch-hitting Alec Burleson walked in what probably should have been a second strike. Brutal. But despite the two walks, Detroit got out of the danger zone and sent the game into the ninth still tied.
McKinstry kicked off the top of the ninth with a single. Riley Greene then doubled to bring him home and give the Tigers the lead once again. Three outs followed, but the Tigers now had a thin edge.
Tommy Kahnle came in for the bottom of the ninth to hang onto that lead. And with the help of some outfield hustle and some great strike throwing, Kahnle got the save and the Tigers got the win.
Final: Tigers, 5, Cardinals 4