Casey Mize returned in fine form in this one, but the Detroit Tigers remain hamstrung offensively. The Toronto Blue Jays are having similar issues, but they pulled this one out in the tenth against Tyler Holton, and Louis Varland closed out the Tigers to even the series at a game apiece on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s matchup featured a sight for sore eyes, as Casey Mize returned to the bump after a few weeks out with a minor groin strain. The Tigers need him, and plenty of other players, back in action. Mize settled in pretty nicely in the top of the first. George Springer grounded out, and after Yohendrick Piñango reached on a swinging bunt, Mize got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground to Hao-Yu Lee at third, and Lee started a double play to end the inning.
Lefty Mason Fluharty was on the mound for the Blue Jays as the opener, prompting AJ Hinch to bat Hao-Yu Lee third, playing third base, in order to get his a bat against the southpaw. Kevin McGonigle’s rough stretch continued with a soft fly out to start things off. Dillon Dingler was the DH in this one, and he and Hao-Yu Lee had trouble with Fluharty’s extreme angle to the plate, taking called strike threes.
Mize whiffed Kazumo Okamoto for the first out of the second, and Dalton Varsho lined out sharply to center. Jesus Sanchez dug in and he too struck out over a splitter, shooting Mize some looks at he accepted his fate.
Matt Vierling led off the bottom half with a single back up the middle. Riley Greene was rung up on a pretty tough checked swing call. That was the end of Fluharty’s job with Greene dispatched, and John Schneider took the ball and gave it to Spencer Miles as the bulk guy. Spencer Torkelson whiffed on a mistake slider at the top of the zone. As Zach McKinstry fell behind 1-2, Vierling broke for second but didn’t get the best jump and was cut down by Tyler Heineman.
Mize went through the Blue Jays 7-8-9 in order to start the third inning. We’ve seen him a little sharper this year, but for his first start back he really didn’t look like he’d missed a beat.
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Zach McKinstry flared a single into right field to start the bottom half. Wenceel Perez flew out, and Jake Rogers struck out. McGonigle pulled a single that moved McKinstry to third with two outs. Dillon Dingler followed by drawing a walk to load the bases, and Hinch turned to Gage Workman to pinch-hit for Lee instead of Colt Keith. It didn’t work out, as Workman chased a flurry of breaking balls and struck out.
Mize started the fourth with a nasty slider to punch George Springer. Piñango flew out and Guerrero’s struggles continued as he popped out to Torkelson to end the frame. The Tigers weren’t dialing in on Miles’ breaking stuff yet, and Vierling and Greene grounded out to start the bottom half. Torkelson missed a curveball over the middle for strike three, and it was on to the fifth.
Okamoto lifted a fly ball out to Riley Greene to start the inning. Varsho got a splitter that hung up over the middle of the plate first pitch and drilled a double to right field to give the Blue Jays their first threat in the game. Mize turned from splitters in the first at-bat against Sanchez, to sliders in this one and carved him up. Lenyn Sosa popped out to Workman to strand Varsho as Mize continued to look very good.
The Tigers weren’t having any more good fortune against Miles. A pop-up from McKinstry to Okamoto saw the third baseman juggle the ball and then snatch it out of the air bare-handed. Wenceel Pérez’s struggles continued with a ground out to Okamoto. Pérez is striking out just 13.5 percent of the time and somehow cannot buy a hit this year. Jake Rogers came to the plate with a more cagey plan and stayed patient until Miles walked him. Miles stayed heavily breaking ball against McGonigle, bouncing one that got away from Heineman as Rogers scampered to second base. In a 1-2 count, Miles tried a front door swingback sinker and got a called strike three, but it was a ball and McGonigle correctly challenged it. He then swung over a curveball for strike three.
After trying to be patient early on and getting chopped up by Mize’s splitter, the Blue Jays started swinging earlier through the middle of the game, but it did them no good in the sixth. Andrés Giménez flew out down the left field line as Greene made a fine sliding catch in foul territory. Heineman popped out, and Springer flew out, and Mize was through six scoreless with a pitch count at 71.
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However, with Mize back off the IL with no rehab work, the Tigers didn’t want to push him too far, and so that was it for him, and it was a heck of a return to action. 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K. Mize got 10 whiffs on 42 swings, with the slider and splitter accounting for eight of those. With that, Mize’s ERA drops to 2.43 on the year, with a FIP of 2.67. The breakout year continues.
However, Spencer Miles day was done. RHP Braydon Fisher took over to face Dingler, Workman, and Vierling in the bottom of the sixth. On a 2-1 pitch, a called strike was challenged correctly by Dingler to get to 3-1 instead, but he ultimately grounded out. Workman struck out, but Vierling got an 0-1 slider over the middle and lined it into the Tigers’ bullpen for a 1-0 lead. Greene struck out on a slider, and we were onto the seventh with the Tigers up a run.
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Of course, trying to take it easy on Mize meant that the Tigers bullpen would have to collect nine outs to win. Instead, Kyle Finnegan took over and immediately gave up a solo shot to Piñango, the first of his young career, on a first pitch splitter that carried just inside the right field foul pole. 1-1 game. Guerrero Jr. grounded out, and Okamoto flew out to Pérez. Finnegan walked the dangerous Varsho to put one on and Jesus Sanchez at the dish, but the right-hander got ahead 0-2 and Sanchez bounced out harnlessly to second.
Right-hander Tommy Nance took over for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the seventh and quickly dispatched Torkelson on a swinging strike three. McKinstry grounded one to Guerrero ranging toward second base, and the first baseman couldn’t hit the moving target that was Nance covering the bag. McKinstry reached, and Pérez worked ahead in the count. A couple of breaking balls evened the count at 2-2, and Pérez’s troubles with contact continued as he popped out to Heineman at home plate. With Jake Rogers down 0-1, McKinstry tried to steal second on a breaking ball thrown for strike two, but he was cut down by Heineman pretty easily, and we were onto the eighth.
Connor Seabold returned from the injured list yesterday, with Ricky Vanasco optioned to Toledo, and Seabold took over in the eighth from Finnegan. Lenyn Sosa grounded out to McGonigle to start things off. Giménez also grounded out to McGonigle. Davis Schneider pinch-hit for Heineman. A 1-1 fastball away was called a strike. Schneider challenged it incorrectly, leaving it 1-2 and the Blue Jays down to one challenge. A good fastball blew Schneider away to wrap up a brisk inning from Seabold. Welcome back, Connor.
Tyler Rogers, the closest thing to a submariner we seem to have left in the game, took over for the Blue Jays and punched out Rogers. McGonigle striped a hard ground ball just fair down the left field line for a single, but a nice play from Piñango prevented him from taking second. Dingler popped out to Okamoto at third, and Workman grounded out to Sosa to send us to the ninth.
As he did last night, Hinch turned to Kenley Jansen to hold the Blue Jays in place. The veteran closer got Springer to pop out in foul territory, with Gage Workman coming all the way over to the railing of the Tigers’ dugout to haul it in. Jansen tied Piñango in knots with a high, inside cut fastball for a whiff. That left it up to Guerrero, and the big man’s struggles contiinued as Jansen got in on him with a cutter a bit and he grounded out on a nice lunging play from McGonigle. Jansen is finally putting together consistent innings, which is a plus.
And so, it was walkoff time again, hopefully.
It wouldn’t be easy against hard-throwing Louis Varland. Vierling started it off with a ground out. Varland was firing 98-99 mph darts and got ahead of Riley Greene 0-2. Varland missed twice with soft stuff trying to get him to chase, and Greene eventually lined a single to left field. For some reason, Varland wasn’t trusting his fastball, and lollypopped a 2-2 slider over the middle. Torkelson was shortened up properly, and just lined a single up the middle. McKinstry stepped in, and surprisingly Hinch didn’t pinch hit Colt Keith. McKinstry grounded one to Sosa, who forced Torkelson at second while Greene took third. And finally it was Colt Keith time, hitting for Pérez.
Varland dropped in a knuckle curve for a first pitch strike, and then Keith chased a changeup well away. Another changeup bounced on the plate and Keith whiffed. The ball got away from Brandon Valenzuela, who replaced Heineman at catcher, but he was able to pounce on it and throw Keith out in time. On to the 10th.
Tyler Holton took over with Guerrero Jr. starting on second and this is where the lack of a lefty with better strikeout ability makes this situation a tough fit for the Tigers’ pen. Zack Short entered as the second baseman, taking over for Keith for defensive reasons. The Blue Jays were swinging away on the road, and Okamoto grounded one deep to third base, but Workman’s arm was plenty. The main reason for Holton was to try and control Varsho, but he couldn’t. Varsho lined a sinker back into center field for an RBI single, and a 2-1 Blue Jays lead.
Myles Straw pinch-hit for Sanchez to get the platoon matchup but flew out to McKinstry in right. Holton threw a cutter well down first pitch, and Sosa just golfed it to left field for a double. Greene was able to get the ball in to prevent Varsho scoring, but the situation was grim as Ernie Clement pinch-hit for Giménez. He lifted a harmless fly ball to left for the final out, but the Tigers now had to answer back.
With Short at second, Jake Rogers started things off, breaking his bat and grounding out to Clement at shortstop with Short unable to advance. McGonigle grounded a Varland offering to Guerrero at first for the second out, and Dingler chased a knuckle curve down for strike three to end it.
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