Nice day to play two. A better day to WIN two.
The Tigers and Rockies couldn’t have picked a better day to play back-to-back games, with the sun shining in Denver and the Tigers’ bats feeling hot, so let’s have a look at how things played out.
Game One: Tigers 10, Rockies 2
In the first game of the afternoon, it was Casey Mize on the mound for the Tigers up against Kyle Freeland for the Rockies.
In the first inning, Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a leadoff single, but then got eliminated in a double play off the bat of Gleyber Torres. Zach McKinstry singled, then Andy Ibanez doubled to bring McKinstry home, and Ibanez was able to advance to third on a throwing error by Adael Amador. Spencer Torkelson singled to bring Ibanez in. That was it for the inning, but the Tigers were up 2-0 to start the game.
In the home half, Brenton Doyle got a leadoff single, then one out later, stole second. But two outs quickly followed to leave him stranded.
The Tigers’ hit parade continued in the top of the second, Tomas Nido got a one-out single, followed by a Trey Sweeney single. Malloy drew a walk, and then Gleyber Torres singled to score Nido. McKinstry reached on a fielder’s choice but an error by Alan Trejo meant no runners were out and Sweeney scored. Ibanez hit a sac fly to score Malloy, and then Torkelson hit a double to bring two more runs in. At the halfway mark of the inning, the Tigers were up 7-0.
Mize might have had a nice rest in the top of the inning, but he barely got out of his seat for the home half before the Rockies went back down 1-2-3.
Javier Baez continued his hot streak, kicking off the top of the third with a double. Errors continued to bite the Rockies, however, as Sweeney singled, then Baez was able to score on a throwing error by Mickey Moniak. Malloy singled to bring home Sweeney, who had been on second thanks to the error. Two outs followed, but the Tigers now had a 9-0 lead.
In the home half, Mize was once again merciless, getting the Rockies out in order.
The game headed into the fourth, but without Freeland, who was replaced by Angel Chivilli. For the first time in the game the Tigers didn’t have so much as a baserunner. In the bottom of the inning, the Rockies were three-up, three-down.
In the top of the fifth, the Tigers were once again retired in order. The Rockies, however, finally managed to get something going against Mize. With one out Nick Martini singled, then Moniak doubled. Trejo hit a sac fly, bringing Martini home and finally putting the Rockies on the board. Mize did get out of the inning with only one run scored though.
The sixth was three-up, three-down for both sides.
Onto the seventh and the Tigers woke up their bats again. Ibanez got a leadoff single, then Torkelson hit into a force out that eliminated Ibanez. A groundout helped advance Tork to second, and then a Javier Baez single brought Torkelson home. This forced the Rockies to change pitchers again, now to Juan Mejia, who got the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Mize was done for the day, his final line was 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K on 86 pitches. Mize continues to look excellent and really only had one bumpy half inning. Sean Guenther was in for relief. Michael Toglia got a one-out walk but was then eliminated by a force out off the bat of a pinch-hitting Owen Miller. Miller advanced to second on defensive indifference, but no one scored.
In the eighth Torres got a one-out single, then McKinstry walked. Neither of them scored. The Rockies were out 1-2-3 in the home half.
For the top of the ninth, the Tigers went down in order. With the Rockies down to their last shot, Jordan Beck got a leadoff triple, and then scored on a Hunter Goodman sac fly, but it wouldn’t turn into a rally as a flyout ended the game on the very next at bat.
A great first win for the Tigers. Onto the next!
Game Two: Tigers 11, Rockies 1
For the next outing, Keider Montero got the nod for the Tigers, up against Tanner Gordon for the Rockies.
Top of the first saw the Tigers going 1-2-3. In the home half, it was the Rockies who got on base first, with a leadoff single to Brenton Doyle. One out later, Ryan McMahon was on base with his own walk. A double play ended the inning and the threat.
Riley Greene took a walk to start the second, followed by a Spencer Torkelson single. However Greene got thrown out heading for third. A double play then ended the Tigers’ shot at getting an early lead. In the bottom of the second, Mickey Moniak got a one-out single, and Kyle Farmer was right behind him with a single. Owen Miller hit into a force out, scoring Moniak. The Rockies would have to settle for one.
The Tigers were ready to draw blood in the third as Dillon Dingler started things off with a leadoff single. Trey Sweeney singled. Then new arrival (and elder rookie) Brewer Hicklen got his first major league single in his first plate appearance with the Tigers. Kerry Carpenter singled, scoring Dinglerl, then Gleyber Torres doubled to deep center to score three more runs. After two outs, Spencer Torkelson hit a double to score Torres, and Jace Jung singled to score Torkelson.
In the home half Jordan Beck got a one-out single. McMahon continued to be a thorn in the Tigers’ paw with a walk, and then Hunter Goodman singled to load the bases, but they would all be left stranded as a double play ended the inning.
In the fourth, Hicklen continued to have the best game of his life with a one-out single, then he stole second… and then he advanced to third thanks to a throwing error by Jacob Stallings. Hicklen would be left stranded, but seriously, have a day new guy. In the home half Moniak singled, but was then eliminated on a force out by Farmer. Farmer got too greedy though, trying to steal second, and was thrown out by Dingler on an insanely good toss, as the batter struck out.
In the fifth, the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top half. In the bottom of the inning Jacob Stallings was hit by a pitch to start the ball rolling. A double play and flyout eliminated the risk.
The top of the sixth arrived, and the Tigers went 1-2-3. The Rockies did the same in the home half.
In the seventh, Kerry Carpenter hit a one-out single, forcing the Rockies to dip into their bullpen again, calling out Tyler Kinley. With two outs, a wild pitch allowed Carpenter to advance to second. Then Colt Keith hammered a two-run homer to pile on some runs. (Notably the longest home run of his career and the longest home run by any Tiger this season, at 450’).
Not a darned thing happened for the Rockies in the home half.
Spencer Torkelson kicked off the top of the eighth with a single, then Jace Jung grounded into what appeared to be a double play, but the Tigers challenged the call. And despite it looking very close, the Tigers actually won their challenge, so while Torkelson was out at second, Jung was safe on first. Trey Sweeney hit a two-out single that just blooped into right center. Hicklen then walked to load the bases. Scott Alexander came out in relief, and Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled to score three runs. The Rockies went 1-2-3 in the home half.
POSITION PLAYER PITCHING! Alan Trejo came in to pitch for the Rockies. He gave up a single to Keith, but Greene hit into a double play. The Tigers didn’t actually manage to get any runs against Trejo, which is impressive. Keider Montero wouldn’t get called out for a complete game, with Beau Brieske coming in for the bottom of the ninth. But Montero’s line for the day was an excellent one at 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, on 92 pitches. Brieske gave up a two-out walk to Toglia. Malloy then made a sick catch in right for the final out of the game and the Tigers sealed the deal on a series sweep.