Detroit Tigers matchups vs Cleveland Guardians pitchers in AL Central
On “Days of Roar,” Cleveland Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes breaks down the starting pitchers vs. the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central showdown.
- The Detroit Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, on Friday night.
- Casey Mize allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings for the Tigers.
BOSTON — The Detroit Tigers failed to pull themselves closer to a postseason berth.
The Tigers wasted too many scoring chances in a 4-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday, Sept. 26, in the first of three games in the series at Fenway Park. The Tigers finished 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.
Ceddanne Rafaela banger a walk-off triple with one out the ninth inning, facing right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle. He drilled a middle-middle changeup off the center-field wall.
Before Rafaela’s triple, Romy Gonzalez put the pressure on the Tigers by hitting a changeup into center field for a one-out single. Center fielder Parker Meadows nearly robbed Rafaela, but the ball banger the wall above his outstretched glove.
The Tigers (86-74) have lost 12 of 14 games — winning just eight of their last 29 games. Meanwhile, the Red Sox (88-72) clinched a postseason spot with Friday’s victory.
There are two games remaining in the regular season.
The Tigers and Red Sox will meet again Saturday (4:10 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). Left-hander Connelly Early is scheduled to start for the Red Sox, but the Tigers haven’t determined their starter for the second of three games.
The magic number remains two for the Tigers to clinch a postseason berth.
Here are the three scenarios to secure a wild-card spot: Two wins from the Tigers in their final two games, two losses from the Houston Astros in their final three games (including Friday’s late game against the Los Angeles Angels) or one Tigers win and one Astros loss.
The Tigers remained tied with the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central race after the Guardians’ 7-3 loss in Friday’s game against the Texas Rangers, though the Guardians own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers.
After Friday’s loss, the Tigers have a 75.1% chance to advance to the postseason, according to FanGraphs. The odds are 30.9% to win the AL Central and 44.2% to secure a wild-card spot.
Kyle Finnegan gives up key run
The Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.
But the Red Sox fought their way back with one run in the fourth inning, one run in the seventh inning and one run in the eighth inning. The first two runs were charged to right-hander Casey Mize, but right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan was responsible for the third run.
In the eighth, Carlos Narváez opened with a single. The Red Sox replaced Narváez with pinch-runner Nate Eaton, who stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Dillon Dingler. The throw down skipped off Eaton and ricocheted into left-center field, allowing Eaton to take third base.
Jarren Duran tied the game, 3-3, with an RBI single off Finnegan’s middle-middle fastball.
Finnegan − whom the Tigers acquired from the Washington Nationals at the July 31 trade deadline − has given up three runs over 3⅔ innings in four relief appearances since returning Sept. 19 from the injured list. A right adductor strain sidelined him for nearly three weeks.
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Casey Mize dominates
If the Tigers need a Game 2 starter in the postseason, Mize turned in an impressive audition against the Red Sox. The 28-year-old allowed two runs on six hits and zero walks with eight strikeouts across 6⅓ innings, throwing just 80 pitches.
The Red Sox scored one run in the fourth inning on Masataka Yoshida’s RBI single for a 3-1 deficit and one run in the seventh inning on Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly for a 3-2 deficit, but aside from those two runs, Mize shoved in the other five innings.
He had some clutch strikeouts.
In the third, Mize struck out Trevor Story swinging with a 97.1 mph fastball at the leading of the strike zone. In the fifth, he struck out all three batters swinging: Lowe (88 mph splitter), Wilyer Abreu (94.9 mph fastball) and Narváez (89.7 mph splitter).
In the sixth, Mize challenged Alex Bregman with back-to-back sinkers over middle of the zone in a full count. On the second 95 mph sinker, Bregman struck out swinging to end the sixth inning. After the whiff, Mize shouted in celebration as he bounced off the mound and returned to the dugout.
Mize threw 14% splitters — down from 24.5% in his first 27 starts. He owns a 3.87 ERA in 28 starts.
Parker Meadows bunts
The Tigers practically never bunt.
But Parker Meadows dropped a perfect bunt the third-base line that surprised almost everyone, leading to a three-run fourth inning. The bunt single from Meadows − the Tigers’ second bunt banger of the season − loaded the bases with no outs.
The bases were loaded for Javier Baez against left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Báez fouled off four fastballs in a row before pushing Harrison’s fifth consecutive fastball for a ground-ball single into right field. The single from Báez put the Tigers ahead, 1-0, then Jahmai Jones extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run double.
After scoring three runs, the Tigers failed to break open the game in the fourth inning − stranding the bases loaded on Spencer Torkelson’s popout and Riley Greene’s lineout.
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Wenceel Pérez leaps into stands
There was plenty of action in the first inning.
None of it was good for the Tigers.
The Tigers loaded the bases with two walks and one single with quality plate appearances against Harrison, who struggled to throw strikes. The runners were stranded as Greene struck out swinging and Ibáñez lined out.
Not only did the Tigers miss a scoring opportunity, but they also lost their challenge in the bottom of the first inning on a play where right fielder Wenceel Pérez ended up in the stands.
Pérez jumped toward the wall, caught the ball in his glove and tumbled into the stands, but when he stood up, he didn’t have the ball in his glove anymore, so the umpires ruled it a foul ball.
The Tigers challenged.
But the call on the field stood.
Harrison allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks with six strikeouts across three-plus innings, throwing 65 pitches. Both walks in the first inning were on four pitches.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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