HOUSTON — Suddenly, the Detroit Tigers’ bats cooled off.
Their defense wasn’t so clean. Their pitching wasn’t as sharp.
And then, well, it just got ugly.
The Houston Astros exploded to an 8-2 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Now the Tigers head home for their home opener at Comerica Park on Thursday afternoon against the Boston Red Sox.
GAME 1: Matt Vierling saw something familiar in Tigers’ blast off vs. Houston Astros
GAME 2: Tigers’ Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson give world glimpse of future in middle of lineup
“It’s exciting,” Austin Meadows said.
Detroit’s Opening Day.
Not this game.
The Tigers (2-4) won the series in Houston, at least, after getting swept in St. Petersburg, Florida, over the weekend.
“Obviously playing against a good team in Boston,” Meadows said. “I’m looking forward to it. Being part of Opening Day again, the adrenaline rush, all that fun stuff. Just looking forward to being part of that. I know some renovations have been going on over there. So, I’m looking forward to kind of seeing all that and just getting going again.”
This Houston series felt like a renovation for the Tigers. After a horrible disappointment in Florida, this team showed resilience and fight, winning the first two games.
But after scoring 13 runs in the first two games of this series, nothing came easy on Wednesday.
Meadows did have one of the few highlights in Wednesday’s game. After a Riley Greene triple in the eighth inning, Meadows drove him home with a two-out single to left.
For starters
Eduardo Rodriguez started for the Tigers.
But the left-hander lasted just 4⅔ innings, giving up six hits and four runs.
Chas McCormick launched a two-run home run to left-center in the bottom of the second, the first right-handed homer of the season for the Astros.
In the fourth inning, the Astros started crushing the ball. José Abreu smashed a ball to deep center but Greene was able to track it down at the wall.
The next batter, Kyle Tucker, homered to right field. After a David Hensley walk, McCormick doubled to deep right to give the Astros a 3-1 lead; he came around to score on a sac fly to make it 4-1.
Change of plans
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch planned to start Ryan Kreidler at shortstop and use Javier Báez as the designated hitter on Wednesday.
But he changed things up, wanting to get Matt Vierling’s hot bat in the lineup.
So Hinch used Kerry Carpenter as the designated hitter and started Vierling in right field.
But Hinch told Báez to be ready to pinch hit.
That moment came in the seventh inning.
The Tigers had two on, with one out, while trailing 4-1.
Báez hit into a double play to end the inning.
It was that kind of day for the Tigers. The clutch hits never happened.
Building a bullpen in reverse
Managers often build their bullpen by thinking about who they would like to pitch in the ninth, then the eighth, then the seventh, etc.
But Hinch is doing it the exact opposite.
With roles up for grabs and so much uncertainty, Hinch is just trying to worry about the moment.
So, in the short term at least, it will be interesting to see the order he uses guys.
On Wednesday, Hinch turned to Garrett Hill, who earned a save on Monday, to relieve Rodriguez in the fifth.
Hill threw 1⅓ innings and gave up two runs.
Tyler Alexander replaced Hill in the seventh, with guys on first and third. Yordan Alvarez drove in a run.
Alexander pitched two innings, giving up two runs (though only one was earned).
One big hat for Miggy
The Astros honored Miguel Cabrera before Wednesday’s game, presenting him with a bottle of wine, a big black cowboy hat and a bottle of champagne.
Cabrera played along and seemed to enjoy every bit of it.
He put on the hat and beamed.
On his way back
Right-handed starter Michael Lorenzen left the clubhouse on Wednesday morning with his luggage. He is heading out to a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo over the weekend.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.
To read Seidel’s recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.