Home runs for everyone!
The weekend series of very late start times continued, but at least today was Friday, so staying up a little later didn’t feel quite so painful. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was on the mound for Detroit, up against Jose Soriano for the Angels, and the Tigers were hoping to have a repeat of their Thursday outing.
In the first, Kerry Carpenter was back in the lineup, and singled to start things out, but a strikeout and double play then ended the inning. In the home half, things looked a little similar to last night’s game, as Zach Neto hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw. Three outs followed, but the Angels were on the board first.
In the second, Dillon Dingler got a two-out single, and Jace Jung followed him to the basepaths with a walk. But both were left stranded after Trey Sweeney struck out. In the home half, Logan O’Hoppe singled, but much like the Tigers first inning, he was followed by a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the third. As the game rolled over to the home half, drama got heated. Kyren Paris got a leadoff double, the advanced to third on a Tim Anderson sac bunt. Skubal struck out Neto, who started chirping back at the mound, and Skubal seemed to reply to Neto saying, “You got me once,” with “Yeah, I got you now.” And this of course resulted in the benches clearing in a very lacklustre attempt at a brawl that went nowhere and ended quickly. Skubal got the final out of the inning and was still laughing about it as he headed back to the dugout.
Riley Greene got a one-out single in the top of the fourth. Dillon Dingler then singled, but Greene was able to advance all the way to third on a fielding error from Tim Anderson. However a lineout ended the inning with the Tigers still scoreless. Skubal then very efficiently got through the Angels in order.
With one out in the fifth, Javier Baez singled, then Kerry Carpenter followed him with another single. Based on the big smiles between Baez and Neto at second, I think any risk of another fight has been put to rest. McKinstry hit into a double play to end the inning. Travis d’Arnaud got the home half going with a single, but three outs followed.
The Tigers were out in order in the top of the sixth, and Skubal returned the favor getting the Angels out 1-2-3 in the home half.
Ryan Johnson, whose whole name is constructed by last names of better pitchers, came in from the Angels’ pen. Then Trey Sweeney hit a two-out solo homer to tie up the game.
Tarik Skubal’s day was done, making way for Chase Lee. Skubal’s final line for the day was 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HR on 73 pitches. Honestly, he probably could have stayed in another inning, but they don’t pay me to make those decisions. Lee did his job, getting three outs in a row.
Ryan Zeferjahn was next out of the Angels’ pen in the eighth and got the Tigers out in order. Tyler Holton was in for the Tigers and he got the Angels out 1-2-3.
The ninth inning rolled in, game still tied. The Angels brought in their closer Kenley Jansen. Riley Greene then homered to right to give the Tigers the lead. Then Colt Keith followed that with his own home run.
With one out, Jung singled to right. Then with two outs, Javier Baez hit his third home run in three games, because now that he’s a centerfielder, he’s unbelievably clutch.
Kerry Carpenter singled. Guess Jansen shouldn’t have rested for eight days… McKinstry then doubled, to put two men in scoring position. That was it for Jansen, obviously. Jake Eder replaced him and the first pitch he threw was a wild pitch to score Carpenter. Torkelson walked, and the Tigers had officially batted around. The Riley Greene hit his second home run of the INNING, to pile on two more runs. The Angels finally got the third out of the inning, but it’s safe to say the Tigers had a somewhat comfortable lead at 9-1.
Tyler Owens, our newest arrival, was in for the ninth. Against his first batter, none other than Neto, Owens collected his first major league strikeout. The final two outs came easily, and the Tigers walked away with a triumphant win.
Final: Tigers 9, Angels 1