“Beau comes in there in a really big place,” Hinch said. “In a perfect world I would love to bring these guys in – clean inning, big lead, deep breaths and attacking guys they can match up with – and that never happens. Especially in October.”

More: ‘Stay in the fight’: Torkelson ends up in a slip as Tigers move towards another clinch

And especially with this Detroit pitching staff, which has adapted so well to the mix-and-match strategy that their manager has aptly described as Tarik Skubal and “pitching chaos.” Only these Tigers have turned the so-called chaos into a kind of comfort for the creature.

“Because if you’re tense and you expect to be next every time, I think you’re going to waste a lot of energy,” said Brieske, who displayed a new “Roar of ’24” T-shirt in the postgame clubhouse that reads: The Tigers Hunt in October. “So I try to stay as calm as possible. And when they shout, ‘Boom!’ The adrenaline is kicking in and I’m going to be ready, whatever happens.”

Of course, there is no choice in the play-offs. And as Hinch noted on Wednesday, after completing his latest managerial masterpiece, there’s also no time to get into the flow of a game where every pitch and every at-bat is so much more important.

“So strike-throws are the key,” said Hinch, whose team has now thrown 20 consecutive scoreless innings in this series. “Be at your best from the first pitch. You see the speed increase, you see the execution of big throws to get the first batter out – our inherited runners are really good – and our boys understand that they are being put in that position because everyone who wears the English ‘D’ has it knows they can get the job done, and they continue to respond.”

Brieske responded to his call in Game 3 by getting to work right away, outpacing the Guardians’ David Fry with three consecutive fastballs for a 1-2 count. Then he heard catcher Jake Rogers call for a slider and it made perfect sense.

“When Rog mentioned it, I thought, ‘Yes, that’s the right pitch,'” Brieske said, nodding. “All I have to do is execute. And I did that.”

He has ever. Hinch called it a “turbo slider” after the game, and Brieske’s wipeout pitch that was in the mud by the time he reached Rogers behind the plate.

“But I think it was a perfect fit for the pitch I threw at it, and we got it,” he said. “So that was big. That was probably the biggest pitch of the outing for me. I mean, to get first, if you have runners on first and second, now all you have to do is make one pitch and get out of the inning.”

Four pitches later, he did get out of the inning when Cleveland’s most feared bat, Jose Ramirez, sent an airborne changeup into the meadow where Parker Meadows was roaming.

“Yes, when it goes to center field,” Brieske said with a smile, “you start walking toward the dugout.”

He would make that walk twice more on Wednesday, when Hinch let him in for a 1-2-3 sixth and then sent Brieske back out in the seventh to deal with the Guardians’ Jhonkensy Noel, who he put away with a called third batting ball. . At that point, it was time for another call to the bullpen, and another handshake for Brieske, the former 27th-round pick — drafted 802nd overall in the 2019 draft — who has gone from former starting pitcher to suddenly great player. savior in what feels like the blink of an eye.

“I always believed that I had that in me,” says Brieske. “Now it’s just a matter of being able to be consistent and use it.”

It doesn’t matter when he is called upon.

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Chris McCosky asks Reese Olson about possible back-to-back outings against the Guardians.

Chris McCosky asks Reese Olson about possible back-to-back outings against the Guardians.