Comeback Cats: Hinch’s clutch strategy pays off
Evan Petzold
Texas Rangers superstar Corey Seager, a fourtime All-Star, two-time World Series champion and two-time World Series MVP, nearly sacked Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize in the fifth inning with a fly ball to right field.
But it wasn’t a three-run home run.
“Huge relief,” Mize said.
The ball traveled 366 feet — and into the webbing of right fielder Wenceel Pérez’s glove perched above the wall and in front of the flowers. Pérez pulled down his glove, took a peek at the ball and pumped his fist.
“You have to make sure always that the ball is in your glove,” Pérez said. “You have a big glove in the outfield, so sometimes, you can’t feel when the ball is in there. You have to make sure that you have it.”
The catch from Pérez at the wall in right field made a big difference in Tuesday’s game, as the Tigers ended up scoring two runs in the eighth inning for a 4-2 win over reigning World Series champions in the second of four games at Comerica Park.
Mize limited the Rangers to two runs across six innings.
The Tigers (10-7) have split the first two games with the Rangers. A strategic decision from manager A.J. Hinch helped the Tigers take a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning.
In a pinch
Kerry Carpenter, a left-handed hitter, led the Tigers on offense with two extra-base hits. He also leads the Tigers in batting average (.302) and onbase-plus-slugging percentage (.920) this season, but he typically only hits against right-handed pitchers.
In the eighth inning, Hinch pulled a red-hot Carpenter for Matt Vierling, a right-handed hitter, because Rangers manager Bruce Bochy called lefthanded reliever Jacob Latz out of the bullpen with a runner on first base and two outs.
“I trust Vierling, and everybody trusts Vierling,” Carpenter said. “We trust A.J. with the lineup, and Vierling tends to get it done, so I love it.”
Bochy went to the lone left-handed reliever in his bullpen because he didn’t want Carpenter to get the key at-bat in the eighth inning, but that didn’t bother Hinch.
“It’s kind of how everybody expects us to play, so I don’t think there are a lot of secrets,” said Hinch, who stacked back-to-back lefties with Zach McKinstry at No. 3 and Carpenter at No. 4 in the lineup.
“It’s just a matter of the situation developing and having our guys ready. I know how well he’s swinging the bat. He’s going to get his chance against lefties. I know nobody believes it because I keep hitting for him. But it’s hard to leave Vierling on the bench when he can create some havoc.”
Vierling flared a single to right field to keep the inning alive, and Gio Urshela put the Tigers ahead, 3-2, with a ground-ball single to right field. The singles from Vierling and Urshela had a 63.3 mph exit velocity and a 67.4 mph exit velocity, respectively.
“I think we all are accepting our roles well,” Carpenter said, “and that’s the way it should be probably. If we tag-team a game, then that’s good. We love going 3-for-4 out of the four-hole today.”
The Tigers tacked on another run, making it 4-2, on a wild pitch by Latz.
Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin, who fired
Casey Mize returns home
Mize made his first start at Comerica Park since April 9, 2022, a span of 738 days. He missed all of last season recovering from elbow surgery and back surgery.
“This is our home, and this is where we want to play,” Mize said. “It was a welcome back for me. I love pitching here in front of our fans, and it’s a great park to pitch in. It just felt good.”
The 26-year-old struck out six batters — without a walk — against the Rangers: Evan Carter (swinging strike, splitter), Wyatt Langford (called strike, fastball), Ezequiel Duran (called strike, fastball), Jared Walsh (called strike, knuckle curve), Carter (swinging strike, splitter) and Langford (called strike, slider).
He threw 95 pitches.
Mize mixed in more curveballs than he did in his first two starts, taking away from the usage of his slider and splitter. He maintained a heavy dose of fastballs.
“Their lineup kind of called for it,” Mize said, “but also, it’s just something that we’ve been working really hard on, just trying to get the hitters front to back a little bit. That’s something I can throw in there a little bit slower.”
He generated seven whiffs (on 41 swings) with three fastballs, three splitters and one curveball. The fastball averaged 94.7 mph and maxed at 97.4 mph.
The Rangers couldn’t get anything going against Mize until the fifth inning, in which Mize threw 28 pitches. Duran and Marcus Semien were responsible for RBI singles to put the Rangers ahead, 2-1, and with two outs and two runners on, Seager flew out to deep right field.
“He got it up in the air,” Mize said. “It was a 3-2 (count) there. I didn’t want to give in with a heater, so I threw a slider. He hit it up in the air. It almost went out, but that’s baseball. Sometimes, it doesn’t.”
Mize bounced back from the 28-pitch fifth by sending the Rangers down in order with a 15-pitch sixth inning. He struck out Carter and Langford, then got Josh Smith to ground out to conclude his third start of the season.
Carter, a left-handed hitter, whiffed at a nasty splitter, while Langford, a right-handed hitter, watched a top-tier slider. Both pitches were painted on the down-and-away corner, the first to Mize’s arm side and the second to Mize’s glove side.
Two runs off Jon Gray
For the Rangers, right-hander Jon Gray allowed two runs (one earned run) on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts across six innings.
In the third inning, Torkelson recorded his first barrel of the season on a 413-foot flyout to center field. He hit Gray’s fastball with a107.2 mph exit velocity.
It would have been a home run in 18 of 30 MLB ballparks.
Torkelson flew out, but the Tigers still took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on McKinstry’s ground-ball single to right field. A fielding error by the right fielder allowed Greene to score from first base on the play.
The Tigers tied the game, 2-2, on Carpenter’s RBI double in the sixth inning. McKinstry worked a walk and scored on the double from Carpenter, who hammered Gray’s slider. He also smashed Gray’s fastball on his leadoff triple in the second inning.
“I feel good,” Carpenter said. “I’m seeing everything well and putting good swings on it.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@ freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.