Keider Montero had another somewhat shaky outing, but otherwise the Tigers played their best game in recent weeks. Colt Keith set the tone with an early homer, and the Tigers walked, stole bases, and pitched really well ouf of the bullpen to take down the Twins and win their first series since mid-August by a 7-2 score on Wednesday afternoon.
After an hour plus rain delay, Keider Montero entered this game looking to get the taste out of last Friday’s loss to the Guardians out of his mouth. Montero was cruising along with a lead before losing his command and getting clipped for a four-run outburst that eventually led to a walkoff loss.
Luke Keaschall was up first for the Twins, and continues to lean in over the plate, trying to get hit. Montero obliged, hitting him in the arm with a 3-2 sinker. Keachall’s toes were right on the edge of the chalk and it’s debatable whether the pitch even got into the airspace of the batter’s box, but umpires rarely put the onus back on the hitter there.
Brooks Lee flew out deep to center field on a nice play from Max Clark. Keaschall couldn’t advance, and then Montero picked him off with his second throw over to first. Kody Clemens flew out to end the top of the first.
RHP Zebby Matthews took the mound for the Twins, and he got Kevin McGonigle to fly out to open the bottom half. Hao-Yu Lee drew a walk, and in a 2-2 count, Colt Keith got a changeup that hung up in the zone. He did not miss, lining it just over the right field wall into the foliage. 2-0 Tigers.
Riley Greene flew out, and Dillon Dingler grounded out to end the inning.
Montero got a ground out from Bell and a fly out from Kaelen Culpepper to start the second inning, before walking Trevor Larnach. Montero punched out Royce Lewis whiffing over a knuckle curve. The Tigers went down pretty easily in the bottom half.
Victor Caratini grounded out to John Peck at shortstop to open the third inning. Walker Jenkins challenged a Montero curveball for a first pitch strike, and he was correct that it was actually ball one. Montero eventually walked him, but Keaschall flew out to Brett Callahan in left, as did Brooks Lee to send it to the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers quickly got something going as Peck drew a leadoff walk. McGonigle slashed a double to left to move Peck to third, and then Matthews, starting to feel the strain, walked Hao-Yu Lee as well. That loaded the bases with no outs, and brought Colt Keith to the dish after homering in his last at-bat.
Matthews worked ahead 1-2 in the count as Derek Shelton got his bullpen active. Keith ripped a one-hopper just foul down the right field line, and then couldn’t check his swing on a backfoot slider, striking out. Riley Greene got ahead 3-1 and Matthews couldn’t tempt him into chasing the high heat, walking in a run. 3-0 Tigers.
That was it for Matthews. Shelton went to RHP Travis Adams instead, with Dillon Dingler at the dish. The Tigers catcher lifted a sacrifice fly to Larnach, scoring McGonigle from third. Brett Callahan was up next, and he sliced a 1-1 fastball down the left field line. It bounced fair and hopped into the seats for a two-run automatic double. 5-0 Tigers. Max Clark flew out, but the Tigers had cashed in their opportunities.
Montero then gave up a solo shot to Kody Clemens on his first pitch to start the fourth. Clemens 26th homer went to the opposite field and made it a 5-1 game. Montero promptly fell behind to Bell and a sinker on the outer edge got launched out to left field as well. This is not how you take advantage of a lead. Montero was still struggling to throw strikes early in counts and now it was biting him. 5-2 Tigers.
Montero got Culpepper to fly out to left, but the misses were still a bit much as he struggled to find his groove. A curve and a fourseamer were fouled off by Larnach to get Montero ahead 0-2, but he missed with three straight, and none of them were terribly competitive. Tyler Holton was warming in the pen at this point. Finally a good knuckle curve got the whiff for the second out. Lewis lined out to Lee at second on Montero’s 74th pitch, and we were on to the bottom of the fourth.
Malgeri grounded out to start things off, and then Adams whiffed Peck. Meanwhile, AJ Hinch was in the dugout with his hands on Montero’s shoulders conveying a message. Montero is about to become a father for the first time, so possibly it was just new father advice, but mid-game that’s probably unlikely. After the game, Hinch said he was basically leaning on Montero not to get down on himself for an iffy performance and concentrate on the more important things as he and his wife await the arrival of their first born.
McGonigle was up next, and he took a really close 2-2 pitch away out of the zone to work the count full. Another changeup was fouled off, and Adams despaired of getting him out and fired a fastball head high and walked him instead. Hao-Yu Lee fell behind 1-2, but he too stayed patient and forced Adams to throw strikes. He failed to do so, walking Lee as well. So Keith was up with two on and two outs. A cutter jammed him first pitch, and Keith popped out to end the inning.
Tyler Holton did indeed take over in the fifth, and he whiffed Caratini with a good changeup for the first out. Jenkins was tied into knots by a sweeper that was actually up in the zone, but the rookie whiffed on it, and Keaschall grounded out to Lee at second.
A good Adams cutter got Riley Greene to fly out to Larnach, beginning the bottom half. Dingler’s second half pain continued with a strikeout. Callahan fouled off a bunch of slider and changeups, but eventually whiffed on a slider as well. On to the sixth.
After a lengthy battle, Holton got Brooks Lee to pop out to Colt Keith next to the visitor’s dugout to begin the inning. Clemens made another bid for a homer but it fell short of the right field fence and Malgeri was there. Bell put up a battle, but a good changeup got a little pop up to Peck at shortstop. Still 5-2 Tigers heading to the bottom of the sixth.
Lefty Taylor Rogers took over for the Twins, and Max Clark continues to thrive against lefties, lining a sweeper to right for a single. Malgeri was unable to move Clark while Rogers kept a close eye on his leads, striking out. Then Rogers picked off Clark as he was primed to go first move, and they cut him down at second. Peck grounded out to Culpepper to end the inning.
Tyler Kinley has been quite effective for the Tigers since they claimed him from the Braves. He popped up Culpepper to Dingler to start the seventh. Larnach singled to right for the Twins third hit of the game. Of course, two of them were homers. Royce Lewis fell behind as Kinley fed him nothing but sliders away. He eventually switched to a curveball and whiffed him for the second out. Caratini fell behind 0-2, but took a pair of sliders down before Kinley had to adjust and feed him one at the bottom of the zone. The Twins catcher ripped a single to right, and Larnach took third on the play.
Hinch had seen enough, and with the rookie left-handed hitter Jenkins coming to the plate, he called on Drew Sommers to snuff this threat out. The big fella got ahead 1-2, and then dusted the rookie with a perfect fourseamer at the top of the zone. Nice job there. Still a 5-2 game with six outs for the Tigers to get.
Kody Funderburk took over for the Twins in the bottom half, and he struck out McGonigle and Lee to start the frame. Spencer Torkelson entered to hit for Keith. He fought Funderburk to a full count and Caratini decided to confer with his pitcher. They elected to go with a changeup and got weak contact, but the blooper dropped into right field for a single. Funderburk missed up repeatedly and issued the Tigers seventh free pass of the day to Riley Greene. So two on, two outs for Dingler, but Derek Shelton wasn’t going to let him see a lefty. RHP Tommy Nance got the call to try and get the Twins out of this.
He did not get the Twins out of this. Dingler lined a single to left center field to score Torkelson, moving Greene to second. 6-2 Tigers.
Callahan took a 1-1 sinker away that was called a ball, but a Caratini challenge showed it just slightly skimming the outer edge of the zone. That put Nance in charge, and he whiffed the outfielder to send us to the eighth.
Sommers got Keaschall to ground out to Peck to start the inning. The throw was low, but Torkelson picked it nicely to retire the speedy and highly irritating outfielder. A really nasty changeup whiffed Brooks Lee, and if Sommers has that pitch he’s really in business against right-handers as well. He closed the frame in style, blowing away Kody Clemens with a 94 mph fourseamer.
Tommy Nance walked Clark to start the bottom of the eighth, and quickly paid for it as Clark stole second base. Ben Malgeri grounded out, moving Clark to third, and Peck banged a single through the right side to score Clark. That made it 7-2, and Peck promptly stole second as well.
McGonigle struck out again, this time of a mistake pitch as Nance dropped a slider just at the top of the zone. Ha0-Yu Lee grounded out sharply to the other Lee at third base, and we were on to the ninth. 7-2 Tigers.
Kyle Finnegan came on to close it out, and he quickly gave up a single to Josh Bell. A ground ball off Culpepper’s bat went to Peck for a double play to clear the bases, and it was up to Larnach. He flew out to left, and that’s a series win.
This was the Tigers first series victory since taking out the Guardians back on August 13. Everything has gone badly since then, but not today. The Tigers will have an off day on Thursday, and then welcome in the Colorado Rockies for three starting Friday.
