Hey, it’s the Pirates! Because of course, the Tigers will face the Pirates almost as much in a given season as they will other AL Central teams.
Let’s take a look at how the matchup between Casey Mize and Martin Perez shaped up in Pittsburgh this afternoon.
Matt Vierling started out the game with a leadoff single in the first, then Riley Greene followed that with a one-out single. Spencer Torkelson kept things rolling with a single that scored Vierling and put the Tigers on the board nice and early. Gio Urshela grounded into a double play to end the inning. In the bottom half, Mize allowed a two-out single to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but the Pirates had to settle for the single baserunner.
In the second, the Tigers went down in order, 1-2-3. Edward Olivares hit a leadoff home run. Two outs followed, and then Henry Davis drew a walk. The Pirates weren’t able to get additional runs, but the game was tied.
The Tigers once again went three-up three-down to start the third. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Bryan Reynolds doubled. A Hayes single then brought him home and gave the Pirates the lead.
In the fourth, Gio Urshela singled with two outs, but the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home. Blessesly, the Pirates were 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
The fifth saw more quiet bats for the Tigers, something they’re really going to need to overcome. Alika Williams singled to started the bottom half for the Pirates, followed by two quick outs. A stellar catch from Riley Greene ended the inning with no score on either side. That was the end of the day for Mize, who went 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR on 83 pitches. Certainly not an ideal outing.
Mark Canha had a nice double with one out in the sixth, but the Tigers couldn’t manage to convert that to a run. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Tyler Holton was out of the dugout, and Olivares got his second home run of the game and extended the Pirates’ lead to 3-1.
Top of the seventh saw nothing much from the Tigers as they went down in order. Alex Lange was next out of the pen, and gave up a leadoff walk to Henry Davis. Lange seemed to have decent control after the walk, getting the next three batters out in order.
Matt Vierling got a single in the eighth, but couldn’t get a run. Shelby Miller was next out of the Detroit pen, and got three Pirates batters out in order.
Top of the ninth, Riley Greene walked, then Spencer Torkelson was hit by a pitch. Zack McKinstry came in as a pinch runner. Gio Urshela singled to score Greene, but then thanks to a throwing error, McKinstry scored and Urshela ended up at third. The Pirates did challenge the position of the baserunners, as it did look as if Urshela should have only been able to advance to second (but hey, if he got there without being thrown out, is that really his fault? Hmm?) Anyway, baseball rules are still and Urshela went back to second. Parker Meadows came in to pinch-run for Urshela. Meadows advanced to third on a groundout. Kerry Carpenter hit a well-placed and perfectly hit line drive to score Meadows and put the Tigers in the lead. Javier Baez was hit by a pitch, the second HBP of the night. A Jake Rogers single then scored Carpenter. The Tigers were done scoring, but dang, what an inning it was. Phewwwwwww.
The Tigers turned things over to Jason Foley for the bottom of the ninth, crossing all their fingers and toes that he would help them get away with the win. Rowdy Tellez got a leadoff single. Thankfully a well-turned double play took things from one on to two out. A final Baez catch ended the game, and the Tigers snuck away with a win.
Final: Tigers 5, Pirates 3