Tigers 9, Rays 3: A late-inning blowout

The first eight innings were very close, and then a whopper of a ninth made it an easy victory.

The Tigers looked to end a three-game losing streak on Sunday in Tampa against the Rays… and they did it in style, with a 9-3 win which featured a six-run top of the ninth.

Casey Mize made his thirteenth start of the year for Detroit. He’s been mostly great this year, but if he starts walking guys — like the four he walked against the White Sox a couple of weeks ago — his outing will be a short one. One main change we’ve seen from last year is a big decrease in hard-hit percentage: it was 45.0% last year, and this year it’s 40.6%. That’s still a touch above league-average, and at Comerica National Park that’s not a problem. But in the cozy confines of Steinbrenner Field — which is made to mimic Yankee Stadium’s ridiculous dimensions — you’ve gotta be careful about all those home runs.

Facing Mize was Zack Littell, and if we’re talking hard contact and home runs, Littell spending half his time in Tampa has likely been the root cause of him leading the league in home runs surrendered so far (22 entering today, which is 2.1 per 9 innings, which is a LOT). He’s a fly ball pitcher, and again, with a tiny park and the heat and the breeziness of Florida, well, there you go. Littell went the distance at the end of May in Houston; I probably like complete games by pitchers more than the average guy, so good on ya, Zack.

In the second, Riley Greene led off with a double the other way; with one out a sharp, deep line drive by Wenceel Pérez pushed Greene up to third, and he scored on a Dillon Dingler single to right to make it a 1-0 Tiger lead.

Mize was looking good early, with lots and lots of strikes and a healthy assortment of slurves, sliders and splitters, with his four-seam fastball hitting 97 mph.

With two out and a runner on third in the bottom of the third, Brandon Lowe hit a popup in foul territory to left, and Greene made a sensational play over the wall for the third out.

Now, as the late Jim Price used to observe from time to time, someone who made a great defensive play for the final out is “always” first up the next inning, and Greene indeed led off the next inning with a single to right. However, a double play and a flyout resulted in a hot dump truck full of nothing for the Tigers.

The Rays tied the game at 1 with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth by Junior Caminero on a slurve up in the strike zone. Gotta get that thing down, Casey.

The second pitch Mize threw in the bottom of the sixth was hit for a single, but he looked uncomfortable afterward; he summonned a trainer to the mound, and then left the game. Could it have been a re-tweaking of the hamstring? Was it a heat-related cramp? The last thing this pitching staff needs is another injury to a starter. Tyler Holton was brought in, induced a ground ball for a double play, and after a double, got a popup to end the inning. Here’s hoping Holton is finding his fine form again.

In the top of the seventh, Spencer Torkelson worked a leadoff walk, and Pérez took advantage of the short porch in right field with a rocket over the wall for a 3-1 lead.

Chase Lee got the first two outs of the bottom of the seventh, giving way to Tommy Kahnle with a runner on second. What did Kahnle do? Calmly induced a comebacker for the third out. Man, that guy has been good this year out of the bullpen, and this game could have turned out very differently if Kahnle hadn’t done such a good job there.

Leading off the eighth Zach McKinstry singled and stole second, but after a groundout Jahmai Jones hit a sharp line drive at the shortstop and McKinstry was doubled off at second to end the inning.

Kahnle carried on to the bottom of the eighth, and after a leadoff single and a flyout, the Tigers returned the lineout-double-play favour, only this time to Torkelson at first.

Looking to add a little insurance as a brief downpour began, Greene doubled to right to lead off the ninth and Torkelson followed with the exact same thing to plate Greene for a 4-1 lead.

And then the hits just kept coming: Pérez singled to right to score Torkelson for a 5-1 lead, and after Dingler singled again, Parker Meadows piled-on with a three-run home run to make it 8-1.

Javier Báez followed with a triple, and the rain necessitated a delay which, fortunately, wasn’t long. After the delay, McKinstry hit a long fly out that let Báez score easily for a 9-1 lead. It’s been a while since the Tigers have had an inning like that, and it was most certainly welcome.

Brant Hurter took over for the bottom of the ninth to hopefully get things back on track, and it didn’t go too well: two walks sandwiched around a hit-batter. Hurter appeared to have trouble with his landing spot on the still-wet mound, but hey, come on, pull it together. That was it for Hurter, and you really don’t want to use another pitcher in a 9-1 game, but that’s exactly what the Tigers had to do: Brenan Hanifee inherited a bases-loaded, none-out situation. After a popout Taylor Walls hit a two-run single for a 9-3 score, another lineout-double-play mercifully ended the proceedings.

The Tigers have Monday off to do some laundry and run a few other errands before starting a three-game series with the A’s on Tuesday in Detroit.

Final: Tigers 9, Rays 3

After the game, AJ Hinch confirmed that Casey Mize just had a mild cramp developing and the Tigers don’t expect him to miss any time.

Opinions and Observances

• Here’s my opinion on using openers: not right now, AJ. I mean, if your cup runneth-over with sterling relief pitchers, then fine, by all means, use that luxury. But these days the number of reliable bullpen arms can easily be counted on one hand, so for crying out loud, just let Sawyer Gipson-Long start the game and save those guys for later.
• While I’m at it, and while I’m on a roll, let Kerry Carpenter heal up fully on the IL already. He’s not helping anyone if he’s shuffling around out there on the bases and in the outfield, I’m sure someone like Brewer Hicklen or Justyn-Henry Malloy would be a better choice right now.
• Know what else I think? Seafood is disgusting and it should all go. There, I said it. Seafood is gross.
• Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed do not represent SB Nation, Vox Media, or the management of Bless You Boys…
• Tampa’s shortstop, José Caballero, obviously reminds me of the Guy Caballero character from SCTV.
• On this date in 1813, Laura Secord learned about a surprise attack mounted by the Americans against (proto-)Canada in the War of 1812, and ran nineteen miles (30 km) to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon. If you’re Canadian, you have definitely seen the Heritage Minute dramatizing this event (and have definitely had some Laura Secord chocolates or ice cream).