What a lovely day to win a game.
The day’s outing saw Eduardo Rodriguez up again Logan Allen as the Tigers ended their series against the Guardians in Cleveland.
In the first Allen seemed to stumbled right out of the gate giving up a walk to Matt Vierling then a home run to Spencer Torkelson to score two. He got the next three outs but the Tigers were on the board early. In the bottom half Rodriguez went 1-2-3.
In the second Allen gave up a one-out walk to Javier Baez, and then a single to Andy Ibanez. Vierling loaded the bases with a two-out single, but the Tigers could not bring the loaded bases in. Rodriguez went 1-2-3 again in the bottom half.
Riley Greene singled to start off the third, but was eliminated in a double play, and the inning ended on the next batter. Once again, Rodriguez had a clean bottom half of the inning.
Allen finally had a three-up-three-down inning of his own in the fourth, and it was Rodriguez’s turn to stumble a little. Steven Kwan singled to start the home half of the fourth, then Jose Ramirez walked. Ramirez was then eliminated on the double play. A Ramon Laureano single scored Kwan to put the Guardians on the board.
Allen had another 1-2-3 inning to start the fifth. In the bottom half Rodriguez allowed a single to Zack Collins, but no runs scored. The sixth inning was 1-2-3 for both pitchers.
Kerry Carpenter opened the seventh inning with a bang, hitting a solo home run. Javier Baez was hit by a pitch, and then stole second on balk. A pinch-hitting Akil Baddoo singled to score Baez putting the Tigers up 4-1. Baddoo then also stole second, but no additional Tigers runs scored.
Rodriguez got two outs in the inning, but after giving up a single to Tyler Freeman, Rodriguez’s day was done, giving way to Tyler Holton. ERod’s final line for the day was 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K on 105 pitches. A really nice outing. Holton quickly got the final outing of the inning.
The eighth inning saw a one-out single from Cabrera, but no one was able to bring him home. Holton continued in the eighth and had a nice 1-2-3 inning.
Akil Baddoo got a single in the ninth, but the Tigers were going to have to settle for the runs they already had on the board. Into the bottom half and Hinch turned the game over to Alex Lange, which always takes about three months off my life. But Lange was dialed in today, looking like his earlier season self. He quickly got the final three outs of the game and the Tigers walked away winning not just the game, but their first season series against the Guardians in eight years.
Final: Tigers 4, Guardians 1