Tigers 6, Royals 5: Chaos! Tigers ambush Royals bullpen, commit four errors, even the series anyway

Tonight was Dan Dickerson Bobblehead Night at the ballpark, and for 6.5 innings, it appeared as though our dear friend-of-the-site Dan would receive a dud on his big night. Thankfully, Matt Vierling knows how to celebrate, and Jason Foley didn’t go full party-pooper. Detroit wins, 6-5, and evens the series with Kansas City.

Early Struggles

Although they failed to score until the ninth inning in yesterday’s game, Kansas City pounced on Tigers starting pitcher Casey Mize early in this one, notching two runs off the former #1 overall pick in the first inning. Two singles, a steal, and a ground-out brought in the first Royals run of the day, and a Salvador Perez single gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead. Mark Canha and Wenceel Pérez responded with walks in the first inning, but Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson failed to bring either runner home.

Mize was tagged with another run in the second inning, although this one was not his fault. The Tigers infield committed two straight errors to open the second inning — the first by Javier Báez, and the second by Zach McKinstry. Despite Casey Mize getting a double play on the following play, a Maikel Garcia single scored the first runner, Michael Massey, giving Kansas City a 3-0 lead.

Detroit responded with their first run of the series in the third inning. Colt Keith walked to open the frame, and Zach McKinstry immediately made up for his error with an RBI triple to score Keith and put the Tigers on the board down 3-1.

From there, Báez grounded out, Jake Rogers grounded out, and Riley Greene struck out to cut the rally short.

The Tigers threatened but did not score in the fifth. Mark Canha reached out on a Bobby Witt Jr. error, Wenceel Pérez replaced him on first (his speed helped him to avoid the double play), Kerry Carpenter grounded out but advanced Pérez to second base, and then Spencer Torkelson whipped a line drive down the left field line… just foul. He proceeded to strike out.

Detroit removed Casey Mize from the game after he finished five innings and threw 87 pitches. Mize finished the day having allowed six hits and two earned runs (three total), while striking out two, but the defense cost him an extra 15 pitches or so in this one. Mize finishes his first full month back in the starting rotation with a 3.08 ERA and a 3.05 FIP. Alex Faedo replaced Mize in the sixth and pitched clean sixth and seventh innings. No hits, no walks, no strikeouts: six in-play outs. Faedo now sits at a 2.55 ERA in his present long-relief role.

Stretch and Rally

After the seventh-inning stretch, Detroit’s offense finally broke through. Jake Rogers opened the Tigers attack by drawing a walk, then moved over to second base on a Riley Greene single. Mark Canha then singled, cutting Detroit’s deficit to 3-2:

Wenceel Pérez nearly hit a three-run home run himself following Canha’s RBI single, but the ball died just short of home run distance 340 feet into right field with the wind blowing in, and into right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s glove. Kerry Carpenter then ended a quiet stretch this week with a game-tying single:

Carpenter’s single still left Detroit with two runners on base and only one out. Stepping up in another high-leverage April opportunity, Spencer Torkelson popped out on the first pitch of his at-bat. Thankfully, Matt Vierling had his back, producing the most important home run in the AL Central race for Detroit this month. This was scorched at 110 mph and never even got to altitude.

A Buddy Kennedy strikeout ended the seventh-inning rally, but the five-run barrage was enough for Detroit’s bullpen to do the rest of the work. Andrew Chafin notched three loud outs in the eighth inning, as well as a single baserunner on a second error on the night for Báez (this one an errant throw). Detroit committed four errors on the evening!

A Tight Finish

Jason Foley entered for Detroit in the ninth inning with a three-run lead in hand; easy, right? Not exactly. Foley allowed hard-hit singles to Michael Massey and Dairon Blanco to bring the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Both runners would eventually score.

So, how did Foley get out of things if both guys scored? Kyle Isbel grounded out to Javy Báez, and although he nearly beat the throw, Kansas City attempted to challenge the play and lost the challenge. Maikel Garcia then grounded out to Báez, driving in Massey. Foley then allowed a third single, this time to Bobby Witt Jr, bringing the score to 6-5 and cutting Detroit’s lead to one run.

Vinnie Pasquatino then represented the winning run at the plate, with a base-stealing threat on first. Foley painted the outside of the plate with a changeup for strike one, and then Bobby Witt Jr took off on the pitch and Vinnie Pasquatino hit a ball 378 feet… to Parker Meadows in dead center field.

Foley’s two earned runs raised his April ERA to a 1.50 mark. He is 8-for-8 in save opportunities in his first full month as Tigers closer.

Dual Web Gems

Despite four errors from the rest of the defense, Riley Greene shined in left field defensively tonight for Detroit:

Dan Dickerson Content, for the Tigers Faithful

Happy Bobblehead Night, Dan, and congratulations on 25 years in the radio booth! As a 26-year-old fan, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them, including the ones I cannot remember.