Detroit Tigers rookie Tarik Skubal came undone Friday due to three solo home runs by the Baltimore Orioles, resulting in in a 4-3 loss. On Saturday, fellow rookie Matt Manning’s downfall was much simpler: A two-out grounder to shortstop with the bases loaded that didn’t result in an inning-ending out and led to a 5-2 loss.
“(When you) put yourself in a hole, you know, it’s not easy to come back, and we gave ourselves a chance and then had a couple of rough at-bats at the end,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said, “It’s so hard to win at this level in general, but when you make the mistakes that we did, or have the empty at-bats that we did, it’s even tougher.”
Manning showed early command of his pitches and scattered five Baltimore hits over his first five innings of work, with the Orioles’ two runs coming on two singles in the third inning and a leadoff homer by Maikel Franco in the fifth.
But he struggled to open the sixth, allowing a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases for Baltimore with one out and bring pitching coach Chris Fetter out of the dugout for a visit. Manning then got Pedro Severino to pop out to Willi Castro, with the infield fly rule in effect. The next batter, Franco, sent a 1-2 pitch to shortstop Zack Short, who made a low throw to Castro at second. Inning over. Except: Castro bobbled the ball, allowing Ryan Mountcastle to score from third and giving the Orioles another at-bat. A single to right by the next batter, Pat Valaika, brought home two more runs and ended Manning’s night.
“I’m trying my best to get through that third time around the lineup and getting better,” Manning said. “From the last time, I really just wanted to make my pitches better and give more consistency and get a little sharper as the game goes on, getting into those innings where they’ve seen me multiple times.
“The hardest part about starting, going into games, is finding out what’s working for you and what they’re looking for, and trying to be creative and pounding the zone.”
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Meanwhile, the Tigers (50-57) struggled to score for the second straight night, with only a solo home run in the fourth inning off Orioles ace John Means and a run on a bases-loaded groundout in the ninth on Saturday at Comerica Park.
Manning’s first run allowed came in the third when Mountcastle launched a full-count slider to center to bring Cedric Mullins home. The Tigers’ offense gave Manning some help in the fourth when Eric Haase launched Means’ four-seamer 384 feet to left to tie it at 1-1. The Tigers got just one more runner into scoring position — on a double by Robbie Grossman in the eighth — s over the next four innings. Finally, in the ninth, Baltimore reliever Tanner Scott loaded the bases with Jeimer Candelario (walk), Willi Castro (hit by pitch), and Zach Short (walk) with no outs and Victor Reyes coming to the plate.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde replaced Scott, a lefty, with right-hander Cole Sulser, and Tigers manager AJ Hinch sent lefty Akil Baddoo in for Victor Reyes to face Sulser. Baddoo, hitting .292 against righties this season, made contact, but it was only a grounder to Mountcastle at first. Mountcastle retired Baddoo at first as Jeimer Candelario scored and the runners advanced to second and third, but that was as far as the Tigers’ rally got. Derek Hill struck out looking on a 93 mph fastball and Jonathan Schoop struck out swinging to end the game.
“We battle all the way until the last out,” Manning said of the Tigers’ late-game resiliency. “You see in the ninth inning where we’re not quitting. We’re doing our best to get back into ballgames and win
Means gave up four hits, one walk and one run to get his first win in his eighth start since no-hitting the Seattle Mariners on May 5. He struck out six Tigers over his six innings, with 66 of his 99 pitches going for strikes.
“(Means) does exploit your strike zone if you’re not comfortable hitting it in certain areas or disrupts timing, and when he’s on, he can be really tough and we saw tonight, he can use his changeup whenever he wanted to,” Hinch said. “When we had a couple of opportunities, we just didn’t have it in us tonight to get the big hit or get more pressure on him. We could have got him out of the game sooner.”
Manning was credited with all five Baltimore runs, though only two were earned.He also allowed seven hits and two walks, with three strikeouts. He was replaced after 93 pitches (61 strikes) by right-hander Joe Jiménez, who walked the first batter he faced but got the final out in the sixth.
“He made his pitches. At the end of the day we didn’t get it done, and we’re a team,” Hinch said of Manning. “I was happy with how he threw the ball, and how he responded to that traffic at the end of his outing.”
Hill’s leadoff experiment
Slotting Derek Hill in the leadoff spot didn’t go according to plan. Hill struck out in his first-bat and finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
Miguel Cabrera proved a slightly better opening in the second with a single to center, No. 2,942 of his 19-year career. Haase followed with a strikeout and Candelario contributed with a single for two runners on, but Castro popped out to first and Zach Short struck out swinging to end the threat.
In all, the Tigers left nine runners on while going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Manning on the mound
Manning showed some maturity on the mound throughout the game, working out of a couple jams. With Ramon Urias on third after a single to open the second, Manning threw a 92.9 mph sinker to force a groundout by Franco and end the inning.
Franco’s 361-foot homer off a fastball in the fifth was the fourth allowed by Manning over 33 innings this season. Manning then retired the next three batters: Valaika (strikeout), Mullins (groundout) and Trey Mancini (flyout).
Manning’s four-pitch repertoire included a curveball, four-seam fastball, changeup, and slider.
“He’s shown a lot of maturity each and every start,” Haase said. “He had a pretty good feel for his breaking ball today. The only time that he really got beat was (when) he missed some spots by a wide margin and a couple of balls hard but if we make a play behind him right there completely different ballgame. I don’t think there’s really much else he could have did right there.”