Clearwater, Fla. — Turns out, manager AJ Hinch has a sentimental streak in him.
In his lineup against the Phillies Friday were four ex-Phillies: Nick Maton, Matt Vierling, Cesar Hernandez and Donny Sands. The travel squad from Lakeland also included catcher Andrew Knapp and minor-league infielder Luis Garcia, both former Phillies.
“I brought them all,” Hinch said. “Just want to get the hugs out of the way.”
OK, maybe not that sentimental.
But, it made for a chummy pre-game. Lots of hugs and hoots going back and forth. And, as it turned out, the ex-Phillies left a mark on their old team. Well, Matt Vierling did, going 3-for-3 — two hard-hit singles and his second home run of camp — in the Tigers’ 6-3 spring win.
“It was pretty cool of AJ to do that, bring us all over here,” said Vierling, who started in center field. “I think it gave us all a little extra juice.”
Vierling also stole second base against Phillies All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto.
“That was the best part of the whole day,” he said, smiling.
The Tigers hit four more home runs, bringing their Grapefruit League-leading total to 16. Riley Greene hit a 95-mph fastball from Phillies right-hander Mike Adams 416 feet to the opposite field, clearing the berm beyond the left-centerfield fence.
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Jake Rogers, serving as the designated hitter, blasted his second of the spring. His flew 422 feet onto the berm in right-center, another oppo blast. Javier Baez ripped a pair of doubles, enjoying his best swings of spring.
And third-base prospect Colt Keith, who dealt with the death of his grandfather earlier in the week, slugged an off-speed pitch 382 feet into a strong crosswind, easily clearing the fence in right.
“That was meaningful for him,” Hinch said. “He’s had a tough week. For him to be able to come back and stay focused and get a good pitch to hit, and then hit it out of the ballpark was special. He doesn’t say much. He doesn’t get overly emotional.
“But, he’s really comfortable in the box.”
It was quite a scene around the batting cage before the game. Maton, Vierling and Sands were surrounded by their former coaches and teammates.
“This sport is littered with stories of people who have crossed paths,” said Hinch, who looked over toward the plate where his former manager Charlie Manuel and former coach Larry Bowa were behind the batting cage. “Players cross paths in so many different ways.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie throughout the sport, a lot of history, a lot of memories and a lot of respect across the way for people we’ve come across.”
Then, he spotted Phillies special assistant Howie Kendrick, who smacked a pivotal two-run home run for the Nationals in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series against Hinch’s Astros.
“Some not-as-good memories, too,” Hinch said, laughing.
Hinch batted Maton and Vierling one-two in the order. Both got warm ovations from the fans at BayCare Stadium.
“That meant a lot,” Vierling said. “Obviously, what we did here last year was pretty cool, and for the fans to acknowledge that for Nick and I, that was really cool.”
Bad Boys
In every player’s locker back in Lakeland Friday morning hung a dark blue Detroit Bad Boys t-shirt. But where the basketball used to be in the old Pistons Bad Boys shirts, there was a baseball with a skull and bones in the middle.
The shirts were courtesy of native Detroiter and catcher Eric Haase.
“Yeah, he told me about it,” Hinch said. “I expect one in my locker when I get back. I love that stuff, especially when it’s player-driven.”
Asked jokingly about a potential copyright violation, Hinch laughed and said, “That’s why I said it was player-driven.”
Around the horn
… Reliever Jose Cisnero has been out of camp, dealing with a non-COVID illness. Hinch said he won’t report back until he was asymptomatic.
… Alex Lange had the curveball spinning Friday. He went through the heart of the Phillies’ order in the fourth. After giving up a leadoff single to Rhys Hoskins, he struck out Realmuto, former Tiger Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh. He threw eight curves and got six swings-and-misses. Castellanos waved at three of them.
… Baez played the first half of the game at shortstop and the second half at second base. That was to get him some work ahead of the World Baseball Classic, where he will play second for Team Puerto Rico. He is one of the few players on the Tigers roster who will not be multi-positional this season.
… Lefty Tyler Alexander gave up two long home runs, a 440-footer to Edmundo Sosa and a 411-footer to Realmuto. Statcast read both as coming off sliders – a pitch that he’s been trying to add to his repertoire.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky