It was a rookie showdown in Houston, today.
Good afternoon and welcome to possibly our strangest start time of the year so far. Young Jackson Jobe was on the mound for the Tigers, revisiting the park where he made his postseason debut in…. rough form, and he was up against A.J. Blubaugh (“blue-baw” if you’re wondering, as I was) for the Astros. Today’s game was Blubaugh’s big league debut, so it was rookie vs. rookie for the afternoon.
In the top of the first, the Tigers went 1-2-3. In the home half, the Astros wasted no time making Jobe revisit his first visit to the park. Jeremy Peña got a first-pitch home run, but if Jobe was shaken but it, he didn’t let it show, getting the next three batters out in order.
Onto the second and the Tigers were able to restore the balance quickly. Riley Greene started things off with a single, then Colt Keith followed that up with a home run to give the Tigers the lead. Three outs followed, but the Tigers were ahead and hoping to stay that way.
The game headed into the home half, and Jobe gave up a one-out walk to Cam Smith. Then Jobe tried to toss the ball to first to keep Smith in check, but his cleat seemed to get stuck on the mound and he overthrew first considerably, which allowed Smith to get all the way to third. The error didn’t end up hurting him, thankfully, as he got the next out to end the inning.
The Tigers continued a very good thing in the third. Tomas Nido singled to start the inning, then advanced to third on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kerry Carpenter. It really should have been a double play but an error by Pena allowed Nido to scoot into scoring position and Carpenter stayed safe on first. Zach McKinstry then hit a sac fly to bring Nido home.
Riley Greene got a two-out single. Colt Keith then walked to load the bases. Then Javier Baez came in and… hit a grand slam? Yes indeed, he did and for his first home run of the year, no less. The Tigers ended the inning with a 7-1 lead.
Jackson Jobe had a nice long break from his last pitch as the game headed into the bottom of the third, and Jake Meyers hit a leadoff single. One out later, Jose Altuve walked. Once again, though, Jobe pitched himself out of a jam.
The top of the fourth saw the Tigers go three-up, three-down. In the home half, Victor Caratini drew a leadoff walk. But three quick outs followed.
Logan VanWey replaced Blubaugh for the top of the fifth. McKinstry singled, but then got eliminated in a double play off the bat of Gleyber Torres. Riley Greene collected a two-out single, but then a Colt Keith groundout ended the inning. Jake Meyers kicked off the home half with a walk. Peña then singled, followed by an Altuve double to score Meyers. That was it for Jobe, whose final line for the day was 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 77 pitches. Brenan Hanifee came out of the pen in relief. Isaac Paredes singled, then with one out, Caratini walked to load the bases. Hanifee somehow managed to get through the Astros with no additional runs scoring, when the tying run had been at the plate. Bravo.
Top of the sixth, Trey Sweeney got a two-out single. Then Nido singled, but got tagged out trying to leg it into a double and the inning ended there. Admire the hustle if not the result. In the home half, with two outs, Peña continued to be a pest, with another single. But Altuve struck out to end the inning.
Steven Okert was the next reliever out of the pen for the Astros and he got the Tigers out in order in the seventh. Tyler Holton came out for the Tigers in the home half. With two outs, Caratini homered. Then Cam Smith followed that with a single. Brendan Rogers singled to put two on. A pinch-hitting Yainer Diaz struck out to end the inning and the Tigers maintained their lead, but it was unpleasantly close to not being the case.
Bryan King came in from the Astros’ dugout, and gave up a single to Riley Greene. A pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez singled to follow him. A wild pitch by King then allowed both batters to advance. They were both left stranded, ultimately, as three outs followed. The game headed into the home half, with two outs, then Jose Altuve walked. Tommy Kahnle came in to hopefully save the day, and got the final out of the inning.
Kaleb Ort was in for the Astros, hoping to keep the Tigers at bay. With one out, Kerry Carpenter reached on catcher interference (though, arguably, outfielder interference has been keeping him OFF base all game). Ultimately, the Tigers were not able to add on any additional runs. Now the key would be keeping the Astros from getting any in the bottom of the inning. Kahnle was hoping to be the man to get it done. He did just that, getting the Astros out in order and saving the Tigers from getting swept.
Final: Tigers 7, Astros 4