It’s late night baseball time, and after the world’s most randomly placed off day, the Tigers were back at it in San Diego up against the Padres. The Tigers took a break from their bullpenning, giving Keider Montero the start, and the Padres were leaning on Yu Darvish.
The Tigers, for their part, are inching closer and closer to that third wild card spot, so every win actually still matters even this late in the season. They’re running out of time, but they’re still hanging around and just need to get hot again for a few series to be right in the thick of things. Wednesday’s loss hurt more than most in that regard.
The Motown club wasted no time getting on the board, as Matt Vierling hit a two-out home run to give the Tigers the first run of the game. Kerry Carpenter followed that with a double, but the Tigers settled for just the one run.
In the home half, Jurickson Profar got a two-out walk, but no runs scored.
Spencer Torkelson started the second with a walk, then Jace Jung followed it with a single. As Yu Darvish threw a wild pitch, both baserunners were able to advance. A Dillon Dingler groundout scored Torkelson. In the bottom of the inning, Jake Cronenworth, who is frankly earning the Tiger Killer title, singled to start the inning. Then, with one out Jackson Merrill singled, but even with two baserunners on, they failed to score.
Riley Greene took a walk at the top of the third. A force out from Vierling eliminated Greene, but Vierling then stole second. A Colt Keith single was able to score Vierling and put the Tigers up 3-0, which was the end of Yu Darvish’s day.
The Padres went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
The Tigers continued their trend of starting innings with a walk, as Jace Jung took a free base off of Yuki Matsui. Trey Sweeney then hammered in a home run.
Cronenworth continued to be a thorn in the home half with a one-out single. Xander Bogaerts then walked. Jackson Merrill topped that with a home run, and suddenly it was a 5-3 game.
Wandy Peralta replaced Matsui, and gave up a two-out single to Colt Keith. No runs scored. Heading into the home half, things got ugly right out of the gate. Luis Arraez singled, then Fernando Tatis Jr doubled. A Manny Machado single then brought Arraez and Tatis home and tied the game. That was also the end of the day for Montero, who finished with 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR on 71 pitches. Sean Guenther came in and gave up a walk to Bogaerts, but finished off the Padres without further injury.
The next Padres reliever was Adrian Morejon. Trey Sweeney got a one-out walk, then advanced to second on a passed ball, but the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home. Beau Brieske came in for the bottom of the sixth and to call it a nail-biter would be an understatement. Davide Peralta got a leadoff walk, then Arraez got a one-out single. Arraez was able to steal second with two outs, then Profar walked to load the bases. But Brieske got out of the jam, getting Machado as the final out.
Tanner Scott was the newest Padres reliever out, and had managed to burn through all of their left-handed relievers. Matt Vierling got a one-out single, but was left standing at first. Shelby Miller came out of the Tigers’ pen and it was another tense outing. Bogaerts walked with one out. Then Merrill hit a ground rule double which was so well placed the best thing that could have happened was it bouncing out, otherwise the Padres would have gotten the go-ahead run. Donovan Solano walked, loading the bases. A Mason McCoy force out saw Bogaerts tagged out at home for the second out. The Tigers once again managed to get out of the jam, but it wasn’t easy (and relied an awful lot on luck).
Jason Adam came out in relief, and got the Tigers out in order. Will Vest turned around and did the same to the Padres.
Into the ninth inning, still tied, and this time it was Robert Suarez out of the pen. Riley Greene kept things alive for the Tigers with a two-out walk. Alas, a force out ended the inning. The Padres went three-up-three-down in the bottom half, and we’re onto very, very late-night extras.
Onto the tenth and it was Jeremiah Estrada’s turn, and I’m thinking it’s a bold choice to keep changing relievers every inning when you’re in extras. With two outs and Matt Vierling on third after a Colt Keith ground out, Spencer Torkelson fought for a walk. But the Tigers failed to score as Justyn-Henry Malloy flew out to center field. Jason Foley came in for the Tigers and quickly got a ground out and then struck out Mason McCoy. Suddenly therer was a light at the end of the tunnel, but this time it was the train. Luis Arraez was intentionally walked, which made sense, but Fernando Tatis Jr singled to walk it off in his first game back from the IL.
Final: Padres 6, Tigers 5