Look there were a lot of runs to cover in today’s game, where the Tigers and DBacks traded the lead several times, so we’re just going to go through the highlight reel in today’s recap.
It was not a great day for Beau Brieske, if I’m being generous, but also not the best day for Diamondbacks pitching, which allowed this to be a high-scoring game on both sides.
The Tigers struck first, in the second inning Torkelson doubled, then Haase singled, and Willi Castro doubled to score Tork and Haase.
Look, a lot of fuss was made about this catch. And while it definitely looked impressive, I think what we need to acknowledge is that it probably shouldn’t have been necessary. Greene didn’t need to jump to catch the ball, nor should he have taken a risk in doing so. And Shep needed to chill out on the broadcast gushing about this catch like it was the play of the year.
What I found interesting about all the fuss this catch got, there are no easily available gifs of Javier Baez doing a mid-air behind-the-back tagout only a half-inning later, which to my mind was the much more impressive and difficult play.
The Diamondbacks took some revenge in the third in spite of Greene making all three outs. Kelly homered to start things off…
Then Perdomo walked, Smith singled, Marte walked and Brieske had a little chat with Chris Fetter about maybe not loading the bases with walks. Walker hit a sac fly to score Perdomo, and the game was tied 2-2.
With two outs in the third, Schoop singled, Harold Castro walked, and then Grossman singled to score Schoop.
The lead was short-lived. Varsho singled, Kelly walked, then Rojas singled to score Varsho. That was the end of the night for Brieske, but not the end of his earned runs. Lange came in and a Smith single scored Kelly and Rojas. At the end of the inning it was 5-3 Arizona, and the final line for Brieske’s afternoon was 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR on 75 pitches.
The Tigers bit back in the fifth. Greene walked, ending the day for Dallas Keuchel, then Torkelson walked. And an Eric Haase home run scored three more runs. 6-5 Tigers at the middle of five.
In the bottom of the inning Walker, uh… walked. Peralta singled, Kennedy walked, and then Kelly singled to score Walker. 6-6 tie going into the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth the DBacks really broke things open with Vest on the mound. Rojas doubled, then Smith singled to score Rojas. Marte walked, Walker hit into a fielder’s choice that ended with Smith out at third. Peralta singled and then a Kennedy sac fly scored Marte. They weren’t done yet though as a Varsho home run brought three more men across home plate and suddenly it was an 11-6 game.
Clemens got a one-out walk in the top of the ninth, then Cabrera singled. Greene grounded into a fielder’s choice that was very nearly a game-ending double play, but just missed being one. Clemens scored to give the Tigers one more run.
That was it for the Tigers, not wild comeback, but it definitely could have been worse!
Final: Diamondbacks 11, Tigers 7