Anaheim, Calif. – This is a tale of two sets of fireworks. And it’s possible, at least from the Tigers’ point of view, the first set bled into the second.
It started with a confrontation between the Angels’ talented and feisty shortstop Zach Neto and Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, which led to the benches clearing in the third inning. No punches were thrown but the intensity in this series ratcheted up tenfold.
“The whole bench-clearing thing, the morale was kind of like, we all have each other’s backs,” Skubal said. “That’s the kind of team we are.”
That drama culminated in some historic Tigers thunder in the ninth inning when they blew up a 1-1 game scoring eight times to beat the Angels 9-1 at Angels Stadium. And most of the damage came against decorated veteran reliever Kenley Jansen.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said manager AJ Hinch, whose team has an American League-most 21 wins. “Those were some really big swings. That to me was a good team win because we had so many guys come up with big-time at-bats.”
We said historic. Riley Greene homered twice in the inning, a solo shot leading off against Jansen and a three-run homer to cap the inning against lefty Jake Eder. Believe it or not — Elias Sports Bureau confirmed it — Greene is the only player in Major League history to homer twice in the ninth inning.
“I just found that out,” Greene said afterward. “Pretty cool.”
Greene, now with eight homers this season, joins Al Kaline (1955) and Magglio Ordonez (2007) as the only Tigers to homer twice in any inning.
“That’s really cool,” Greene said. “Those are some big names.”
He seemed so underwhelmed by his feat, he was asked if he would at least let himself enjoy it for the night.
“It’s cool, it is,” he said. “It’s cool but we’ve got to show up tomorrow and try to win another baseball game. This game is over. We have another game tomorrow and we have to take care of business.”
Colt Keith went back-to-back with Greene to start the inning, his second homer in three games. And Javier Baez homered for the third straight game. Quite the offensive explosion. And Greene was quick to credit hitting coach Michael Brdar for nailing the approach against Jansen.
“Brdar had us dialed, all of us,” Greene said. “He told us what to do. I’m probably not going to tell you because we don’t want it to get out there. But Brdar told us what to do and we trust him. Our hitting coaches are incredible.”
The Tigers ended up scoring six runs on six hits off Jansen, Greene and Baez blasted cutters in the middle of the plate and Keith whacked a slider that was up and away. It was the first time in his decorated career that Jansen allowed three homers in an inning.
“There’s no quit in our team and I love it,” Skubal said. “We grind out at-bats. We don’t give away at-bats. Same on the mound. We’re trying to get each and every guy out. I love it. And our record shows who we are.”
The earlier fireworks were slightly lower grade but equally intense and entertaining.
Neto ambushed Skubal’s first pitch, launching a 98-mph four-seamer 429 feet over wall in left-center field.
Neto poked the bear, though, when he stood at home plate and admired his work a bit too long for Skubal and the Tigers’ dugout.
“It was a little long,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “He squared up to it. That’s part of the game these days but Skub is a competitor.”
Skubal started unleashing high-octane sinkers and four-seamers, hitting 100 mph and in one stretch pumping four straight 99-mph heaters.
Neto came up for the second time with a runner at third and one out in the third inning. Skubal blew him away with an elevated 99-mph four-seamer and then yelled something at Neto.
Something to the effect of, “Sit the bleep down.”
“You can see the video and probably know exactly what I said,” Skubal said. “I’m sure it’s out there.”
Neto stared back at Skubal for a couple of seconds before saying something back. At one point, Skubal waved Neto out to the mound, as if saying, “Let’s go.”
The Angels dugout emptied first and the Tigers immediately after. Nothing came of it and both teams were separated quickly and the bullpen pitchers were sent back before they even got to the infield.
“I reacted to them coming out of their dugout,” Greene said. “All I saw was Skub and I saw the other dugout and I was like, ‘We’ve got to go.’ I’m not going to let one of our guys be out there by himself.”
Dingler kept himself in between Skubal and Neto.
“Nothing was going to happen,” he said. “I walked the line and if something would’ve happened, I would have been there. But I knew the guys on the infield had Skub.”
Afterward, both Skubal and Neto chalked it up to the heat of the competition.
“It’s competition, it’s nothing personal,” Skubal said. “I think he’s a really good baseball player. He’s proved that throughout his career. It’s just competition and I think that brings out the best in everybody. I think he understands it wasn’t personal. At least I hope so. I’m not that type of guy.”
Said Neto: “The first inning, got a good swing off of him. The next time I faced him, he got a good pitch that I swung and missed on. It’s just a very competitive sport. Two guys, high energy, big-time situation. That’s what the game is all about.”
Skubal was unfazed by the ruckus. He went right back to work, piling up strikeouts and quick outs, turning the Angels’ aggressive approach into quick innings.
After a six-pitch fourth, he was at 48 pitches.
The Angels got three first-pitch hits, including Neto’s homer. But Skubal also got four first-pitch outs. He was at an economical 64 pitches after punching out the last three hitters in the Angels lineup in the fifth.
The economy of his work is what made it a bit odd that Hinch removed him after six innings and 73 pitches. But this had been prearranged. Skubal had no issue with coming out early.
“The goal at the end of the day is to get me through the whole season, 33-plus starts and into the postseason,” said Skubal, who finished with eight strikeouts and no walks. “I think it’s about being smart and putting our guys in a good spot. That’s what was going on today.
“I want to be healthy through the entire season, pitching deep and being fresh come postseason.”
Skubal has worked into the seventh just once this season and that’s by design. Hinch said it became a decision point because the pitch count was so low. But, ultimately, they stayed to the plan.
“We’re going to stay really disciplined on how we handle our pitching,” Hinch said. “It’s our strength and it’s something we’re really focused on. We’re trying to keep these guys’ gas tanks full. I get it. It’s early (to take him out) and they were swinging at so many first pitches, he had a super low pitch count.
“But it’s really important to stay disciplined on May 2.”
Crazy night.
“There was really no reason for the benches to clear,” Hinch said, reflecting back on third inning. “But emotions kind of run high when the big boys are playing. I don’t mind it. Just, obviously, you don’t want anything to happen.”
After he’d cooled off, Skubal wished that he’d have handled it better.
“What happened, happened,” he said. “Obviously I should be a little smarter. I don’t want retaliation happening against our guys or put our guys in a bad spot there. I should be a little smarter in the field. But I play the game with a lot of emotion and that’s what happens.”
Doubt there’s anybody in that Tigers’ clubhouse who would want Skubal to play any other way.
@cmccosky
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