The Detroit Tigers just continue to roll. The offense has been pretty quiet over the last three series, and that was certainly the case today in Kansas City. However, Keider Montero and the bullpen had the Royals lineup in check all game and scratching out one run proved to be enough to win both the game and the series.
AJ Hinch stacked up the right-handed hitters in his lineup to try and break Royals lefty Kris Bubic early on. That meant Justyn-Henry Malloy leading off with his very selective eye, and Andy Ibáñez in the four hole behind Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene. They needed something to work, as Bubic has been among the top pitchers in the game so far this season.
Malloy did his job in the first, seeing seven pitches and drawing a leadoff walk. Unfortunately Torres flew out to left, Greene struck out, and Ibáñez lifted a fly out to right to end the inning.
Keider Montero’s challenge was to settle into his outing more quickly than he has in many starts this season, and to locate his fastball well enough to avoid trouble. If he could get to his breaking stuff ahead in counts it would be a good day.
Montero got a line out from Jonathan India and a routine ground out to shortstop from Bobby Witt Jr. to start off. Vinnie Pasquantino lined a single to right field, and Salvador Perez yanked a grounder down the third base line that Ibáñez knocked down on a diving play but couldn’t recover in time to get the runner. With Drew Waters at the plate Montero got ahead 0-2, then yanked a fastball that nearly went to the backstop but clipped the home plate umpire instead, keeping the runners in place. Next was a foul tip on a fastball away, but Jake Rogers couldn’t hang on for the strike out. Montero couldn’t hang on either, as Waters sent a solid liner off the tip of his glove for another infield single and the bases were loaded.
At this point Montero and Rogers went full offspeed against left-handed hitter John Rave. He spotted a knuckle curve for strike one, then a front door changeup that was perfectly located down and in for strike two. A slider away came back to catch the outer edge, and Rave was left with the bat on his shoulder as Montero escaped the jam. It did cost him some extra pitches in the first though.
Torkelson lined out to left to open the second inning. Colt Keith went fishing for soft stuff and struck out. Javier Báez lined a sharp single to left for their first knock of the game, but Jake Rogers immediately grounded out on the first pitch he saw.
Having avoided trouble in the first, Montero settled in and got Nick Loftin and Michael Massey on routine contact. The nine hitter, Kyle Isbel, dumped a weak pop up over Gleyber Torres for a single, and with Witt looming, Montero needed to get leadoff man India again. He did so on a routine grounder to shortstop.
Zach McKinstry led off the third for the Tigers in the midst of a stretch that has really cooled his hot start. He fell behind 0-2, but worked it back and then ripped a fastball on the inner edge into the right field corner for his fourth triple of the year. Malloy followed with a weak grounder that was too directly hit to Witt for McKinstry to try and break for home.
With Torres at the plate, a pitch got away from Sal Perez and bounced over to the on deck circle. McKinstry broke for home but then froze, not initially seeing the ball. Meanwhile, it was far enough away from Perez that he conceded the run. Finally both parties realized the situation and Perez broke for the ball, McKinstry broke for home, and the Tigers were up 1-0. Torres walked and Riley Greene flicked a single to left field, but Ibáñez grounded into a routine 6-4-3 double play to spoil the party before it developed.
Unfortunately, last year’s Andy magic against left-handers has disappeared. He holds a 104 wRC+ against southpaws this season with just modest power numbers. That’s fine, but it’s not the kind of numbers you need from a player with a very limited, specific job on the roster.
Montero carved up Witt with the old back-up slider to start the bottom half of the third inning. Thrown at the upper inside corner, it just never broke, hitting the corner like a batting practice fastball as Witt froze. Pasquantino walked as Montero continued to burn through a ton of pitches, and then Perez scorched a ground ball right past McKinstry at shortstop for a single. Montero took care of it, getting ahead of Drew Waters 0-2 and then getting a grounder to Colt Keith at first that he converted into a 3-6-1 double play. Nice stretch from Montero at first, btw.
While Montero struggled to convert strikeouts, Bubic wasn’t having that difficulty. After Torkelson flew out to start the fourth, he blew away Keith with a fastball and then had Báez fishing at sliders for a quick inning. Montero only sat for a couple of minutes, so he really needed to be sharp and return serve with a quick inning.
It didn’t start well as Rave singled on a little liner into center field. Loftin lifted a solid fly ball out to Greene in left field, and then Royals did the Tigers a favor by sending Rave. Rogers caught, slid out from behind the plate and fired an absolute strike right on Rave’s outstretched hand to cut him down. That throw from Rogers snuffed one of the few chances of an at-bat with runners in scoring position that the two clubs would produce the rest of the game. A quick ground out completed a snappy inning for Montero, and despite six hits and a walk against just two strikeouts, he’d managed to blank the Royals for four innings.
The trio of Rogers-McKinstry-Malloy went down in order to Bubic in the top of the fifth, the latter two striking out. Bubic had used up only 73 pitches to this point so he had at least one more inning in him before the Tigers could get into the bullpen.
Meanwhile, Montero’s pitch count was back in shape as he started the fifth at 63 pitches. Montero quickly got a grounder from Isbel to Keith, and covered first for the first out. Montero continued his tendency of spinning a few too many mediocre sliders up there, but it hadn’t hurt him. Jonathan India grounded out to McKinstry, who showed off his arm on the play, and that left things up to Witt. Pitching to him without runners on is the best defense, and it proved so here again as Montero tried back-to-back fastballs inside. The first got a whiff, but the left was lashed to the left field wall for a two-out double.
Montero did a solid job and the results were good as he blanked the Royals over 5 2⁄3 innings, but the same issues he needs to clean up were on display again. Most of the Royals hits were weak, but that’s going to happen when you allow that many balls in play. More strikeout touch is required, and considering his stuff, it remains a bit frustrating that he hasn’t been able to command his mix more effectively. Still, it’s hard to complain about a start with no runs allowed. Results just haven’t matched potential yet.
Tyler Holton came on to face Pasquantino and strand Witt. He got it done by getting ahead 0-2 and drawing a weak ground out to Torres.
Bubic victimized Torres to open the third, getting a pair of whiffs on changeups to strike him out. Riley Greene got a sweeper down and smoked it the opposite way off the left center field wall for a double. The Tigers had Ibáñez and Torkelson up next against the lefty, so the time to score was now. Andy chased a changeup way off the plate and then couldn’t quite check on a high fastball and struck out. Torkelson yanked a first pitch heater hard to left field but foul. A soft tapper back to Bubic ended the inning with a whimper.
We’ve been waiting for Chris Fetter to sprinkle the magic dust on Tyler Holton, and his outing was pretty Holton-like. Sal Perez flew out, and Holton carved up Water by showing him the junk and then firing a fourseamer right down the gut to freeze him. Rave reached on a shattered bat roller to Torres, but Holton looked as sharp as we’ve seen him in a minute. With a right-hander coming up in the form of Nick Loftin, Hinch turned to Chase Lee to finish the inning.
Lee got jobbed on a pair of perfect pitches on the outer edge, but he had Loften flailing at the sweeper anyway for strike three. Nice job by the rookie yet again. Lee holds a 1.23 ERA with a 2.39 FIP in 11 appearances with the Tigers this spring.
The Tigers were still trying to knock Bubic out of the game as the seventh inning began. Colt Keith drilled a one-hopper right off Bubic’s leg, but it ricocheted right to the third baseman Loftin and he got Keith by an inch at first. Bubic was at 90 pitches as Báez stepped into the batter’s box. Javy wildly chased a high fastball for strike three and was sorely pissed at himself. That left it up to Rogers, who lifted a routine high fly to right field.
Hinch put Wenceel Pérez into right field, batting leadoff in place of Malloy and providing better defense as well as the switch-hitting ability. Lee quickly got Massey to ground out and Isbel to fly out on a routine fly to left field. He jammed India with a fastball on the inning edge and then bent a wild sweeper away that India nearly threw his back out chasing. Another sweeper got a grounder to Ibáñez for a seven-pitch 1-2-3 inning.
Lefty Angel Zerpa took over from Bubic in the top of the eighth. McKinstry grounded out to first and it was Pérez’s turn, hitting right-handed. He popped out to Massey at second, and it was up to Torres with the Tigers really needing an insurance run. Torres took a rough strike one call on a fastball well inside, and he eventually sent a routine grounder to Witt.
Tommy Kahnle entered in the bottom of the eighth, and he promptly got Witt off balance for a harmless fly out to left field. The Pasquatch saw a changeup and then Kahnle fired 95 mph in there for a pop-out to shallow left. Sal Perez saw a rare slider from Kahnle in a 1-2 count and took it for a ball away as Kahnle slipped and nearly spun himself off the mound. Perhaps it wasn’t really a slider. Perez made a bid for a double on a liner that was just barely foul down the left field line, but the new pitch was lined the same way but fair for a two-out single. It availed the Royals not at all, as Waters flew out to Greene in left.
On to the ninth inning, and the Tigers had Greene, Ibáñez and Torkelson coming up, with Kerry Carpenter ready to pinch-hit for Ibáñez. More runs were highly advisable. The Royals inserted Freddy Fermin for Sal Perez behind the plate as the inning began. Matt Quatraro stuck with Zerpa against Greene, and to keep Carpenter on the bench.
Greene bounced out, Ibáñez pulled a grounder to third for the second out, and Torkelson did not get to face Zerpa. Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan came on to keep Tork in the park. It worked, but only because Bowlan walked him after a lengthy, disciplined battle from the Tigers’ slugger. Bowlan fell behind 2-0 to Colt Keith who ripped a single to right field, moving Torkelson first to third. And so it was Javy time.
A first pitch strike at the top of the zone was called a ball as Fermin blocked the umpire’s view thinking Keith might try to steal second. Another fastball missed way high and then Báez whiffed on a heater away. Another heater just off the plate away made it 2-2 and that was only fair. Báez was set up for a slider and he whiffed on one to strike out.
And so Will Vest would come on looking for the save with a one-run lead.
Vest got Rave for the first out by deflecting a grounder into the air, catching it, spinning and firing a strike to Keith at first to just nip the speedy runner. Loften grounded out to McKinstry, and Vest just needed one more to wrap up his 9th save. Vest nailed the bottom corner away with a fastball for strike one against Massey, and a changeup drew a tapper that Vest fielded easily
The Tigers are 39-21. Yet another series victory is in the books and now they head to Chicago for four against the scuffling White Sox. Even with the bats cooling over the past two weeks, they just continue to win. Hopefully that lasts until the bats heat up again, because if it goes like that they’re going to run away from the whole division.
Players wore a number four patch today to celebrate the life of Lou Gehrig and support charities helping those with ALS. You can read more on the disease and find resources, as well as where to donate, right here.