The Tigers and Rockies had themselves a hit fest.
Happy Wednesday, everyone. The Tigers were meant to start their series in Denver on Tuesday, but rain had other opinions about that, so the first game of the series was tonight, with a doubleheader planned for Thursday. The altitude at Coors Field is always a changemaker, and that was clearly true for Jackson Jobe tonight, who got the start for the Tigers against Chase Dollander for the Rockies.
In the first, the Tigers went 1-2-3 to start the game. In the home half, Jordan Beck hit a one-out single, then Ryan McMahon homered to center to give the Rockies an early lead. Hunter Goodman then singled, but Jobe brought it around to get the final two outs of the inning.
Top of the third, the Tigers went down in order again. In the bottom of the inning, Mickey Moniak singled, then one out later stole second. With two outs, Brenton Doyle singled to score Moniak and put the Rockies up 3-0.
Things turned around for the Tigers in the third. Dillon Dingler opened the inning with a walk, just as Jack White showed up in the booth, and Jack White might be a very lucky guy,b because not only did he get a Sweet Lou foul ball at his first Tigers’ game ever, but the second he sat down, things just turned around for the team. Trey Sweeney doubled to put two men in scoring position. Javier Baez then singled to score two runs.
Kerry Carpenter singled, and following that Gleyber Torres hit a sac fly to score Baez, tying the game 3-3.
Colt Keith was the next Tiger to single, but two outs followed so the Tigers would have to settle for three—and a tie—thanks to Jack White. In the home half of the third, McMahon walked. With one out, Michael Toglia homered to score two, and we’re already missing Jack. Jobe got the final two outs, but the Tigers would need to warm up their bats again.
In the fourth, Zach McKinstry walked, then Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch. Trey Sweeney then walked to load the bases. (Worth pausing to note that the crowd in Denver might have been 50% Tigers fans based on the volume.) Javier Baez singled down the middle to score two and tie the game up again, and that was it for Dollander, who just couldn’t seem to find the strike zone. Jake Bird replaced him.
With two outs, Colt Keith singled to drive in another run and give the Tigers their first lead of the night.
In the bottom of the inning, Alan Trejo singled. Two outs later, Jordan Beck singled to score Trejo and tie the game once again. That was the end of the day for Jobe, whose final line was 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR on 87 pitches, and there is no sugar-coating that this wasn’t a very good outing for Jobe at all. Brant Hurter replaced him in the fourth to get the final out of the inning.
The Tigers were three-up-three-down in the top of the fifth. In the home half, Ryan McMahon got a leadoff single, then Hunter Goodman hit into a double play that really showed how good Spencer Torkelson is at first lately. With two outs, Michael Toglia doubled, but after a quick mound visit, Hurter got the final out of the inning.
Trey Sweeney got a leadoff single in the sixth. With two outs Sweeney made a heck of an effort to steal second and it really looked as if he’d pulled off an insane swim-style slide, keeping his foot (somehow?) on the base, the safe call was ultimately overturned. Still, pretty sick move. Then, for the first time all game, the Tigers got the Rockies out 1-2-3 in the home half.
Scott Alexander was the next Rockies reliever up in the seventh and he gave up a leadoff single to Torres. Riley Greene then took a one-out walk. That was apparently enough for Alexander after the minimum three batters, and he was replaced by Seth Halvorsen. Torkelson struck out, but then McKinstry drew a walk to load the bases. Dingler really battled for the final at-bat, but was ultimately struck out to end the inning. In the home half, Brenan Hanifee was in for the Tigers, and while McMahon continued to be trouble, hitting a two-out double, Hanifee got out of the inning with no runs scoring.
Sweeney hit another leadoff single in the top of the eighth. Too bad a double play and a strikeout followed, ending the inning almost as quickly as it had begun. Tommy Kahnle, a former Rockie, came in for the Tigers in the home half of the eighth and immediately gave up a double to Toglia. With two outs, Alan Trejo walked. Then Adael Amador walked to load the bases. Brenton Doyle then hit a scorcher, but directly to McKinstry to end the inning. Phew.
Zach Agnos came in, hoping, I’m sure, to be the last Rockies reliever of the night. The Tigers went down in order, including a sick catch by Toglia that was basically revenge for the catch made by McKinstry. Will Vest was the next Tigers’ reliever out of the pen. Ryan McMahon continued his power outing against the Tigers with a very near home run that baffled both Riley Greene and Javier Baez, and gave McMahon a double (he was a triple shy of a cycle). Vest got himself out of the jam, however, and we’re heading to extras.
Top of the tenth with Riley Greene as the ghost runner, Spencer Torkelson had a good battle at the plate that ended with a ball in right center, scoring Greene to give the Tigers the lead. Then. with two outs, Trey Sweeney continued a dominant evening with a hit that just dropped into the outfield, baffling every outfielder, and scoring another run.
In the bottom of the tenth, Vest was back out hoping to hang onto a win. He gave up a leadoff walk to Moniak. An absolutely gorgeous double play from third to first eliminated two runners. A pop out ended the inning and the game was over. A great finale, but for a team that’s meant to be historically bad, the Tigers probably should have packed this up sooner.
Final: Tigers 8, Rockies 6