I’d like a quick word with whoever made the 2023 schedule for the Tigers and planned this road trip right at the end of the season. Just a little chat, that’s all.
Tonight’s outing saw Bobby Miller on the mound for the Dodgers and Reese Olson for the Tigers. So let’s see how that went, after the Dodgers took the first two games of the series.
In the first the Tigers went quietly 1-2-3 to start things off. The bottom half saw Olson giving up only one walk to Max Muncy and nothing else.
Kerry Carpenter doubled to kick off the second, then after advancing to third on a groundout, a Tyler Nevin single brought him home. The Dodgers went 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Carson Kelly singled to start the third, then stole second on a wild pitch. Matt Vierling drew a walk, then Zach McKinstry was hit by a pitch, and oh boy he was big mad. In fairness the pitch got awfully close to hitting him in the face, so I probably wouldn’t have been in a great mood either. A Spencer Torkelson sac fly scored Kelly, putting the Tigers up 2-0. The Dodgers went down in order in the bottom half.
In the fourth the Tigers’ bats were silent as they went 1-2-3. In the bottom half Max Muncy got a one-out single, followed by a J.D. Martinez walk. A groundout advanced Muncy to third and eliminated Martinez. The Dodgers could not take advantage of the baserunners though.
The Tigers were three-up-three-down in the fifth, but so were the Dodgers, so it’s okay.
In the sixth it was more of the same for the Tigers. With two outs in the inning Max Muncy hit a solo home run to get the Dodgers on the board. That was also it for Olson who went 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR on 94 pitches. Not his best night but pretty darned good overall.
Nevin singled to start off the seventh, but was eliminated in a double play. Parker Meadows reached on a fielding error, then successfully stole second. A Kelly single then scored Meadows. Miguel Diaz was out of the pen for the Tigers and there was a brief moment of distraction while a goose circled the stadium and TV viewers needed to listen to Kirk Gibson debate if it was a goose at all. (FWIW it looked like a snow goose). Anyway, ornithological diversions aside, Diaz went 1-2-3.
If we had a nickel for every time a Tigers game was upstaged by a goose, we’d have two nickels.
Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. pic.twitter.com/Vmq0LenLzz
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 21, 2023
Top of the eighth and Kerry Carpenter got a two-out double. Andy Ibanez singled and scored Carpenter, and thanks to the throw home Ibanez was able to advance all the way to third. Zack Short came in as a pinch-runner for Ibanez. Tigers up 4-1 at the half.
Austin Barnes got a one-out walk and the game paused for a pitching change. Will Vest was next out of the pen and Mookie Betts took him to town immediately with a double. A groundout scored Barnes. Thankfully Max Muncy had dud inning and the Dodgers would need to settle for just the one extra run.
The Tigers were retired in order in the top of the ninth and just had to hope their narrow lead would be enough to hold on for the win. While Jason Heyward reached on a fielding error in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers were able to get out of it with no more runs scored and walk away with the win.
Final: Tigers 4, Dodgers 2