Akil Baddoo didn’t wait around to inform Tampa Bay Rays starter Luis Patino that the Detroit Tigers were ready for Friday’s matchup. He tagged a third-pitch fastball and sent the ball over the right-field wall for a leadoff home run.
Five days ago, Patino faced the Tigers at Comerica Park and gave up two runs over four-plus innings. In the rematch, the Tigers were determined to attack him early.
“That was definitely a good start to the night,” Baddoo said.
But Baddoo’s powerful introduction, Casey Mize’s successful three-inning start and an outstanding effort from the bullpen didn’t matter in the ninth inning. Left-hander Gregory Soto and righty Michael Fulmer squandered a three-run advantage to force extra innings.
Tied at four runs, Brett Phillips hit a walk-off three-run home run in the 10th inning off Bryan Garcia to hand the Tigers an 7-4 loss at Tropicana Field. Detroit (70-78) has dropped two in a row against the Rays to begin the four-game series.
“This is a tough game,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “I wish we could have finished it off. We almost won, but we didn’t finish it off, so we didn’t win at the end. But we’re not going to hang our head or we’re not going to pout or we’re not going to linger. That’s not who this team is. We’ll sleep it off and get back to the ballpark tomorrow.”
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The Rays loaded the bases without any outs in the ninth inning. Soto was hit on his throwing hand by Manuel Margot’s line-drive single. A visit from athletic trainer Doug Teter deemed Soto healthy enough to stay in the game, but he walked Francisco Mejia and gave up a single to Brandon Lowe.
“I’m sure there’ll be X-rays,” Hinch said about Soto’s left hand. “We’ll check him out completely. I’m not sure where he’s at. I didn’t see him after I took him out of the game, but we’ll get him checked out and make sure everything’s OK.”
With the bases loaded, Hinch brought in Fulmer.
“Unfortunately for Soto, we had to take him out,” Hinch said. “Precautionary and just the fear that his stuff wasn’t the same. I know the board said 98-99 (mph). His fastball wasn’t the problem. I was worried about the spin.”
Yandy Diaz singled on a first-pitch two-seam fastball, driving in two runs to cut the Tigers’ lead to 4-3. An ensuing wild pitch put runners on the corners for Randy Arozarena. His sacrifice fly to center field scored Lowe to knot the score at four.
In the 10th inning, the Tigers stranded Niko Goodrum — the free extra-inning runner on second base — at third base. Tampa Bay’s Andrew Kittredge retired Victor Reyes (groundout), Baddoo (groundout) and Jonathan Schoop (strikeout) in order.
Schoop finished 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
“Everybody did their job,” Fulmer said. “I’ll trust Soto with any lineup, any situation. He’s our best guy. He’s our No. 1 guy. To have him at least continue to pitch after getting hit off the hand, I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Hopefully, he’s all right. Those guys over there, they’re in first place (of the American League) for a reason. They’re a very good hitting lineup. They’re a very good pitching staff. We can’t give first place teams any extra momentum in the ninth and ultimately the 10th inning.”
Early runs
A first-inning response from the Rays didn’t hurt, as the Tigers took back the lead, 2-1, on Goodrum’s one-out RBI double to the right-field corner in the second. He plated Harold Castro, who had dropped in a double to left.
The Tigers extended their lead, 3-1, on Reyes’ groundout to second base. (Before the grounder, Goodrum advanced to third base on Patino’s wild pitch.) The fourth run was scored in the third inning with one out and the bases loaded.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t finish off the night because we played pretty good to put ourselves in a position to win,” Hinch said. “But you got to get all the outs. They did a good job at the end of hanging in there against us.”
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Robbie Grossman (walk), Miguel Cabrera (single) and Jeimer Candelario (single) reached safely to put pressure on Patino. Castro, known for his bat-to-ball skills, made contact with a first-pitch fastball and sent the ball to left field.
Once Arozarena made the catch, Grossman started his sprint toward home plate. Arozarena made a strong and accurate throw, but Grossman slid home safely just before the tag from Mejia. (The Rays challenged, but a replay review confirmed the call on the field from home plate umpire Jerry Meals.)
After the third inning, however, the Tigers couldn’t score against Patino. He locked in to complete six innings, conceding four runs on six hits and one walk. He struck out four and tossed 80 pitches. The Rays then went to Luis Head, who was the first-inning opener in Thursday’s contest, for the seventh.
Limited but solid
Making his third shortened start in September, Mize faced a lineup loaded with left-handed hitters. The 24-year-old rookie allowed one run on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts, tossing 33 of 53 pitches for strikes.
The only damage came in the first inning, when Ji-Man Choi (single) and Arozarena (double) put themselves into scoring position for Austin Meadows, who picked up his 100th RBI of the season. He is Tampa Bay’s first player to reach the season-long milestone since Evan Longoria in 2010.
Meadows’ sacrifice fly to right field easily scored Arozarena, tying the game at one run.
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Mize worked around a single in the second inning and a walk in the third to conclude his outing without additional trouble.
In the third, the right-hander struck out back-to-back batters for the first and second outs, feasting on Choi with one of his best splitters and getting Arozarena to whiff at a slider. Meadows lined out to center field for his final out.
“He hung in there,” Hinch said. “Finishing his outing the way he did, he was living on the edge a little bit there at the end in the third inning. They were building his pitch count a little bit.”
Throwing 53 pitches, Mize used 26 four-seam fastballs (49%), 13 sliders (25%), eight splitters (15%), four knuckle curves (8%) and two two-sam fastballs (4%). He picked up seven swings and misses: three with his four-seamer, three with his slider and one with his splitter.
Bullpen takes over
Following Mize’s three innings, the Tigers turned to left-handed reliever Derek Holland. Entering Friday, the 13-year MLB veteran had pitched well against lefty hitters: a .238 opponent batting average and one of his six home runs allowed in 2021.
Holland displayed more of the same success in his 35th appearance of the season. He pitched a scoreless fourth inning and recorded the first two outs in the fifth before Choi lined a curveball off Holland’s back for a single. Despite getting hit, Holland smiled as he walked off the field.
“He was about to throw his warmup pitches to show Doug that he could stay in the game,” Hinch said, “but he was coming out regardless.”
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Hinch didn’t want him to face Arozarena, a right-handed hitter, so he brought in righty reliever Drew Hutchison. The move didn’t pay off, as Hutchison walked Arozarena on four pitches and took Meadows to a full count before walking him to load the bases.
Wendle grounded out to first base, ending the fifth inning.
Hutchison collected himself and pitched a clean sixth, and Alex Lange cruised through the top of the Rays’ lineup in the seventh. Right-hander Kyle Funkhouser hadn’t pitched since Sept. 14, but he had no issues in a perfect eighth.
“It scripted out about as well as it could,” Hinch said. “We lived on the edge a little bit with the Holland inning when he came out and Hutch had some dangerous innings, but he was able to escape. Alex Lange was terrific. Funk had a great inning.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.