Hey all, we’re on the cusp of the big Miggy weekend, wrapping up a series against the Royals with a double-header to finish off Wednesday’s rain-shortened game, and the regularly scheduled afternoon game for today.
Since this recap was primarily intended for the afternoon game, here’s just a quick overview of the first game:
The Tigers won the first game 8-0. Miguel Cabrera started the scoring with his fourth home run of the season in the second inning. Tyler Nevin homered in the fourth, scoring three. Cabrera helped walk in a run to put the Tigers up 5-0. An Andy Ibanez ground ball forced out scored Torkelson in that same inning. In the bottom of the eighth and on a different day, Jake Rogers hit a two-run homer.
Final: Tigers 8, Royals 0
Now onto today’s outing, which saw Sawyer Gipson-Long against Cole Ragans.
In the first MJ Melendez walked to start the inning and was then eliminated by a Bobby Witt Jr fielder’s choice. Witt stole second, and then Michael Massey reached on a fielding error. An Edward Olivares single scored Witt and put the Royals on the board early. Andy Ibanez got a one-out walk in the bottom of the inning, but didn’t get the opportunity to score.
The Royals went 1-2-3 in the second, and the Tigers had to settle for a single baserunner thanks to a Zack Short walk. No runs scored.
Melendez walked again to start the third, followed by two outs. But then Massey homered to score two, widening the Royals’ lead. Parker Meadows singled to start the bottom of the third, but again the Tigers couldn’t convert the runner.
The fourth went 1-2-3 for both teams.
Kyle Isbel singled to start the fifth, then Melendez continued to have himself a day by hitting a double. Three outs followed, so they were not able to take advantage of having two in scoring position. That was the end of the day for Gipson-Long whose final line was 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K and 1 HR on 92 pitches. In the bottom of the inning Andre Lipcius singled, and two outs later Meadows singled, but that was it for the Tigers’ baserunners.
Will Vest came out of the Tigers’ pen, and had a nice 1-2-3 for his first bit of work. The Tigers unfortunately went down in order as well in the bottom half. There was an attempt to overturn a Spencer Torkelson tagout, but the call was confirmed.
Jose Cisnero was next out of the bullpen. Like Vest before him, he got the Royals in order. Andre Lipcius got a one-out single in the, then Short drew a walk, then Carson Kelly drew a walk to load it up. A Meadows single scored Lipcius. Ragans was out but the hits kept coming. Matt Vierling singled to score Short and Kelly, tying the game. Ibanez then singled to score Meadows, and to round it all off nicely Spencer Torkelson homered to bring them all home. It was Torkelson’s 30th home run of the season, making him the first Tiger since JUSTIN UPTON to hit that number. Yikes.
The game was turned around for sure. Tyler Nevin got a triple and Lipcius walked (Zach McKinstry coming in to pinch run) but no more runs scored. However they certainly got the ones they needed.
The eighth saw Michael Massey hit a two-out single and Edward Olivares followed up with one of his own, both against Jason Foley. Neither runner scored. In the bottom inning Matt Vierling hit a triple, but unfortunately did not score.
Alex Lange came out to close the game in a much lower-pressure situation than it had been a few innings prior. He had a tidy 1-2-3 inning and the Tigers won the game, and swept the series.
Final: Tigers 7, Royals 3