news

Tigers unleash an army of weapons on Guardians and seize control of series

Vaseline October 10, 2024

Detroit — It was ten years in the making, ten years in the making. So when the moment came, oh my god, the Tigers and their fans let it all out.

In a flurry of orange towels swirling, in front of the largest postseason crowd in Comerica Park history, the Tigers waded again, deeper and deeper. Using everything at their disposal and striking a remarkable balance among the noise, the Tigers reached a new level, one step closer to the unfathomable.

At this point we’re done trying to explain it or figuring out how long it might last. In their first home game since 2014, the Tigers defeated the Guardians 3-0 on Wednesday and now lead the ALDS 2-1. One more win – Thursday night here or Saturday in Cleveland – and the Tigers will advance to the ALCS, the final stop before the World Series.

The Tigers are on an otherworldly ride, doing things few baseball teams have done. To be honest, I’m not sure they even play baseball. It’s chess. Chaos chess. With one superstar pitcher – Tarik Skubal – and a bunch of guys who can play any role, they have to take on the opponent that won their division.

You could say AJ Hinch and his staff have taken their pitching chaos to another level, but in reality, it’s been the same for two months since the Tigers launched their historic comeback. This time, Hinch released six pitchers who shut out the Guardians for the second straight game by the same 3-0 score. Since the Guardians broke out for a 7-0 win in the opener, the Tigers have held them scoreless 24 of 26 innings, including the last 19.

And how is this for symbolic framing? Tyler Holton, who opened nine games and finished 14 in the regular season, simply did both in a span of five days. He didn’t record a single clean sheet in the 7-0 defeat. He retired all three batters in the ninth Wednesday, striking out Austin Hedges as the stadium thudded.

“You flush it and move on to the next one, no matter how good or bad it was,” Holton said. “All hands on deck, same script.”

Only the names and times change. Now that the pressure is spread across the entire roster and not focused on one or two stars, it’s quite easy for the Tigers to play relaxed. They shouldn’t be here, so why worry? The Guardians look like the stressed team, getting guys on base but not being able to hit the clutch.

The Tigers continue to find ways to avoid Cleveland’s sluggers, and Hinch has seriously outplayed his managing counterpart, Steven Vogt. Hinch’s shrewd shuffling began in the second inning, and for the rest of the day Vogt frantically tried to catch up, using so many pinch-hitters early that he emptied his bench. How crazy was it? Tigers rookie Keider Montero, often a starter, was the opener, a mild surprise considering the seriousness of the game.

But the Tigers have been playing catch-up since they were buried in mid-August, so every game and every inning has equal gravitas, which builds confidence in everyone. Sure enough, Montero retired the Guardians on six pitches in the first inning, then stepped aside for lefty Brant Hurter, another rookie.

The goal is to get off to a quick start, throw the opponent off balance and then let the orange wave carry them.

“Keider, first of all, had no idea, and he responded with an incredible first inning, with great energy on the field and in an atmosphere like no other,” Hinch said. “There was no order I had in mind. I just knew I had 10 (pitchers) available, and we were going to use them.

Masterclass chess strategy

Hinch has a total of 26 players at his disposal for each play-off match, and he uses as many as possible in any way he can. Game 3 was a masterclass in chess strategy, and the amazing thing is that the Tigers’ main pieces are rooks, rookies and a few pawns, with one clear king, Skubal.

That’s not to degrade their underrated talent, which has steadily developed over the course of a summer. The point is to highlight adjustments that create favorable matchups, where any pitcher can take the mound at any time and any hitter can step up in any situation.

Hinch’s shuffling came out of necessity, as the Tigers lost pitchers to injuries and trades. It has become an indispensable weapon and serves two purposes. First, it puts a new arm on the mound virtually every other inning. And secondly, it stimulates the opposition to make early moves, in keeping with the left-right duels. After lefty Hurter entered in the second inning, the Guardians put two men on base. Vogt brought in pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel, who flied out, leaving right fielder Will Brennan on the bench without ever getting an at-bat.

Chris McCosky asks Spencer Torkelson if he could possibly advance to the ALCS with a win in Game 4.

“We knew in the back of our minds that they could have done that, and given the situations we were in, they had a big impact,” Vogt said. “So we thought this was our chance to take our shot… we just couldn’t get through.”

The Guardians did it again in the third, when they had a man on second and thought they had to go for it. Righty David Fry pinch-hit for lefty Kyle Manzardo, and Hurter struck him out. That’s what the Tigers’ unconventional bullpen does. It forces enemies to make crucial, game-changing decisions before they want to.

Unspoken secret of success

The trust between the manager, pitching coach Chris Fetter and the staff is the unspoken secret of the success. Hurter threw three plus innings and workhorse Beau Brieske threw two more and struck out three. Hinch hit buttons and his pitchers retired hitters.

“It’s called pitching chaos for a reason,” said catcher Jake Rogers, who has the difficult task of handling all the substitutions. “We just go with the game plan and stick to it.”

The Guardians were 92-69 in the regular season, but they don’t have a high-powered offense and are in the middle of the pack, slightly ahead of the Tigers. They get on base and hope a bopper like Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan or Fry can knock someone down.

Fry came up with two men in the fifth inning, this time facing Brieske, and struckout. In the seventh, Fry again batted with two men, this time against Will Vest. He hit a liner to third, perhaps heading for extra bases, until Matt Vierling jumped up and put on the glove.

For about 50^e At the time, the crowd of 44,885 stood up and roared, conjuring up echoes of playoff runs from more than a decade ago. The Tigers don’t do it with big sluggers, or luck, or magical whimsy. They do it in ways rarely seen, with one player, Vierling, boasting some playoff experience. Maybe that element is overrated, and the Tigers really are too young and naive to pull off an upset.

Riley Greene led off with an RBI single in the first inning, Vierling later hit a sacrifice fly, followed by a much-needed breather. In the sixth, Colt Keith broke an 0-for-16 slump with a single, and Spencer Torkelson followed by breaking an 0-for-14 slump with an RBI double to make it 3-0.

The signs and slogans are everywhere now, from Gritty Tigs to Motor City Magic to Chaos Cats. Beyond the centerfield wall, on the top floor of the Detroit Athletic Club, a banner was unfurled in July with a quote from Rogers: “Don’t let the Tigers get hot.”

They are warm and cool at the same time. Vierling was asked what he thought when that scorching line drive came his way.

“I really didn’t have time to think,” he said. “Just respond and play along.”

Sounds like a plan. Sounds exactly like the plan the Chaos Cats are executing.

[email protected]

@bobwojnowski