One swing of the bat wiped away the Detroit Tigers seven-game winning streak.
Despite the Tigers (47-52) holding the Kansas City Royals hitless through 2⅔ innings, Ryan O Hearn s three-run home run in the fourth was enough to hand Detroit a 5-3 loss Friday in the series opener at Kauffman Stadium.
The Tigers had won their first seven games coming out of the All-Star break, sweeping a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins and a four-game set with the Texas Rangers. We got some hits, Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. We just didn t get the big hit. It s not frustrating. It s the big leagues. Those guys did a great job executing tough (defensive) plays.
finally landed Matt Garza.
On July 22, 2013, the Rangers were looking for pitching to keep their pursuit of the postseason alive. Garza had been a target before. In 2010, Garza won 15 games for Tampa Bay, and that turned into a move to the Chicago Cubs. In 2011, he went 10-10 for the Cubs, and followed that with a 5-7 record in 2012.
But, in 2013, Garza roared back with a 6-1 record in 11 starts for the Cubs, making him a hot commodity once again. The Rangers were rolling with Derek Holland, Yu Darvish and Martín Pérez as their top three starters. Garza would have given the Rangers some additional ammunition.
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Tyler Alexander laughed as he described himself as a utility relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in 2021. He doesn t pitch in high leverage situations, but he isn t an arm manager AJ Hinch is willing to waste in the late innings of a blowout.
Hinch offered a more appropriate title: Unheralded hero. He doesn t get a lot of love all the time because he gets a little bit of the grunt work and put in whenever I can put him in, Hinch said Sunday. I ask him to do some things that he has to prepare for mentally, but he never knows if the opportunity is going to come. I applaud his attitude, his effort, his preparation. He s got guts.
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DETROIT Jonathan Schoop remembered this kind of loud atmosphere at Comerica Park from the 2014 postseason with the Orioles. He missed it last year playing in empty stadiums and got a taste of it with limited capacity earlier this season.
But as he stepped to the plate in extra innings Saturday night, he could feel it. With a crowd of 31,624 roaring, egged on by former Tigers players watching from the suites, the current Tigers rallied against the Twins.
âThis was a really good crowd. They cheer for us, and we have to get it done for them,â Schoop said after speeding home from first base on Miguel Cabreraâs walk-off single for a 5-4 win and a doubleheader sweep.
Tigers 5, Twins 4 (F/8): A bloop single walks it off
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Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images
The second half of a Saturday doubleheader between the Twins and Tigers ended in a sweep for Detroit, winning the second game 5-4 in eight innings. Miguel Cabrera hit a weird walk-off bloop single to centre, scoring Jonathan Schoop from first. If that sounds bizarre, well, I’ll get back to it, I promise.
It was going to be a bullpen game for the Tigers in this one, despite manager AJ Hinch also having to use the bullpen extensively earlier in the day. Tyler Alexander, a popular spot-starter ‘round these parts, got the nod for Detroit.