Fresh off a comeback win on Apple TV Primetime – although, does it count as primetime if nobody has a subscription – the Detroit Tigers came out for game 2 against the KC Royals. A couple of throwback veteran pitchers took the bump in Chris Paddack and Michael Wacha. The pair combined for a hair under a 35% strikeout rate coming in; for reference, our very own Tarik Skubal has posted a 33.1% K-rate thus far.
The first inning went largely as expected. Paddack flooded the zone and drew loads of early contact. Of his 7 pitches, 6 were in the zone. KC made some hard contact, but a grounder right to Colt Keith at third and a liner to Kerry Carpenter in right kept them hitless.
Wacha was similarly efficient in his half. The highlight was an ironic twist; Wacha doesn’t strike many out, and Gleyber Torres has one of the lower strikeout rates in baseball. Naturally, their faceoff ended with Wacha dusting Torres on a slider up and out of the zone. Baseball, man.
Paddack’s second inning saw him work in and out of some danger, showcasing the volatility of pitching to contact. Two blooped liners just out of the infield put runners on first and second with only 1 out, but a hard grounder to shortstop earned them a double play to end it. The Royals were turned away early.
Spencer Torkelson led off with a fly ball to left field the crowd was entirely too excited for; it ended snugly in Randal Grichuk’s glove. Riley Greene continued the comeback tour in August with a single to right, but was erased on a Dillon Dingler ground ball, double play.
In the third, Paddack lost the plot a bit. 5 straight balls included a 1-out walk, which isn’t really Paddack’s style. Thankfully, a sharp grounder to Torkelson resulted in a smooth double play. Tork made the backhand, stepped on first, and fired to second for the rare 3-6, tag-at-second double play to wrap the inning.
Detroit struck first in their half of the third. With Scott Harris in the booth to talk elegantly about nothing, Javy Baez flared a single down the right field line. Jake Rogers then pounced on a first-pitch sinker and yanked it down the line; Javy scored, but KC cut off the throw and Jake was dead in the water. Keith then struck out to kill the inning entirely, but a lead is a lead.
Unfortunately, Paddack coughed it right back up almost immediately. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a bloop single, an ominous sign. A wild pitch and a sharp double scored Witt easily with no outs still. Paddack buckled down from there, though, as two grounders and a popup stranded Vinnie Pasquantino at second. Tie game.
Looking to break the tie, Torres wanded one down the right field line for a leadoff single. A Carpenter double play promptly erased him and it seemed the inning had stalled. However, Torkelson had something to say about that and cranked a solo blast to left. The crowd was appropriately enthused this time, but Greene popped out to send us to the fifth.
Paddack continued to dance in and out of trouble, as Jonathan India smashed a single past a diving Keith at third. Nothing more came of it, though, and he even earned his first strikeout of the night as Kyle Isbel took a full-count fastball down the middle. What a game.
Zach McKinstry continued to apply the slightest bit of pressure with a one-out single. Javy stabbed a bunt attempt for some reason before popping out to right. From there, Rogers worked a 3-2 count before slashing a fastball into the left-center gap. McKinstry was off like a rocket, and KC apparently felt the pressure. Words cannot describe this relay attempt, so allow a video. Unfortunately, Keith flew out and the inning was over.
In order to avoid the unfun task of facing Witt Jr. three times, Paddack was lifted for Troy Melton. Witt Jr. ambushed a get-me-over cutter for a leadoff bomb and a 3-2 lead. He bounced back, though, as some hard contact from Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia went unpunished. Salvador Perez laced one off Melton’s glove, but he recovered for the out.
Wacha continued for his half of the sixth looking to keep a worn-out bullpen out of the game as long as possible. Torres led off with a walk, then Carpenter smashed one to center field that Isbel ran down at the wall for the first out. Torkelson then walked, too, when Isbel struck again. Isbel pulled in a low liner to left-center on a stellar diving play, but the umps ruled it a trap and chaos reigned. The Tigers knew it was a catch, so Torres retreated to second, then got falsely forced at third. A replay review corrected everything, though, and Torkelson and Torres stayed at first and second, respectively. Despite a pitch count approaching 100, Wacha stayed in for Dingler, who worked a 15-pitch walk… except the umpire rung him up on a curve in the lefty’s box. Uncool. That in particular hurts for a variety of reasons; it would have loaded the bases, forced a pitching change and an extra up-down for a reliever, and honestly, capped off a fantastic at-bat in a much more rewarding style. Alas.
Melton returned for the 7th and bumped up against trouble. He struck out Adam Frazier, but a walk on a close pitch – the crowd really let the umpire hear it after Dingler’s – and a single marked the end of his day. Tyler Holton was tasked with an escape act. He made short work of the pinch-hitting righty and got an easy double play to end the threat.
Taylor Clarke, he who should have pitched in the sixth, came in for a clean start in the seventh. He worked a quick 1-2-3 inning, including a K from McKinstry.
Holton returned for the eighth and promptly carved up the lefty Mike Yaztremski. Witt Jr. grounded one up the middle, but a small bobble by Greene gave him second. Pasquantino grounded out to Holton and then Will Vest came in for Garcia with two outs and a runner on third. Vest painted the outer edge with 96 down and away for strike three, turning KC away once again. Hopefully, the Tigers would unload in the eighth to ease the stress a bit.
KC lefty Sam Long took over, so the Tigers’ righty bench was deployed. Andy Ibanez came in for Keith and promptly went yard, doubling Detroit’s lead. Torres walked, but Perez – in for Carpenter – and Greene got out to end the inning. 4-2 Tigers going into the ninth.
Vest came in for the second act of his four-out save routine. He diced up Perez with sliders away for his second strikeout, then coaxed weak contact for the last two. This win locked in the Tigers’ advantage in the season series over KC and ran their lead to 11.5 games in the Central. They’re on a five game streak and will go for the sweep tomorrow!
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