Detroit — It felt like 2024 again.
It was Casey Mize’s start day, but with him on the injured list with a groin strain, the Tigers dusted off the pitching chaos strategy that helped them storm into the postseason two years ago.
“Yeah, a little nostalgic, for sure,” catcher Jake Rogers said.
It’s not always popular with the fan base and it may have lost some of its luster last season, but it was executed to near perfection Sunday as the Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 7-1, in front of 24,083 at Comerica Park in the rubber match of the three-game series.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 7, Rangers 1
“It was big day for those guys,” Rogers said. “I’m proud of them. They came in and did their job and did it well.”
Manager AJ Hinch deployed six different relievers to cover the nine innings. And as the game played out, the method to his strategic madness started to unfold.
He targeted the Rangers’ two most-productive left-handed hitters — leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo and No. 3 hitter Corey Seager — hoping to match them up with left-handed pitchers as many times through the order as he could.
And that’s what happened. Nimmo and Seager faced lefties their first three times through — Tyler Holton in the first inning and Brant Hurter the next two times. They were a combined 1-for-6 in those at-bats.
In between, the Rangers’ best right-handed hitters — Josh Jung, Jake Burger and Ezequiel Duran — got righties Brenan Hanifee and Ricky Vanasco.
It wasn’t perfect. Duran doubled off Vanasco in the seventh and after advancing on a wild pitch, scored on a ground out.
“That ball doesn’t squirt past me, we have a shutout,” Rogers said.
Still, it ended up as effective as a quality start — seven innings, one run, five hits, six strikeouts and two walks.
“It starts with the players being bought in to do whatever,” Hinch said. “The players being open-minded and all-in is just so awesome. The day went the way it did because of the player performance. My job is to just navigate them going in and out of the game. We targeted some guys, sure. But Hurter made it impossible to take him out with just how efficient he was.”
Hurter soldiered the heaviest load. He covered 3⅓ scoreless innings allowing just two hits. The last pitch he threw induced a 3-6-3 double play from Seager in the sixth inning.
“It’s such a funky release,” Rogers said. “It’s arms and elbows coming at you. It’s just a nightmare at-bat for a lefty and for him to attack the righties the way he did was big. He’s just got a lot of movement on his stuff and when he’s in the zone, he’s good.”
In 18 innings this season, Hurter has allowed just three earned runs.
“I am just as proud of our mindset as I am of our production,” Hinch said.
Holton knew he was going to face just three batters, because Jung and Burger were hitting in the fourth and fifth spots in the Rangers’ order. Hanifee, who started three games as an opener but never relieved in the first inning, got five outs, which set up the lefty pocket for Hurter.
“It’s just about knowing their strengths, knowing your guys and trusting their stuff and trusting the game plan,” Rogers said. “But it takes those guys to get out there and compete and really get it done.”
Vanasco, in his season debut, struck out two in 1⅓ innings.
“Everyone has to buy in,” Rogers said. “It’s a weird thing, you know. Holton starts and Hanifee comes in in the first inning and it’s like, here we go. But it’s about being prepared for those up-downs and facing whatever pocket you’re given and then passing the torch to the next guy. We did a really good job today.”
The Tigers’ hitters, meanwhile, took a few innings to crack the code against Rangers starter Jack Leiter.
“Like, holy cow,” Rogers said. “Those first three or four innings, I don’t think he missed a spot. We were looking at the heat charts for righties and he hit the exact same spot three times to (Matt) Vierling three times in a row, up and away. It was incredible.”
There was no prior indication he would or could be as dominant and he was through the first four innings. In his four previous starts, he’d allowed 15 earned runs in 20⅓ innings with five home runs. His fastball velocity in those starts was between 95 and 96 mph.
He was a very different pitcher early on Sunday. He was burning the edges with 97- and 98-mph four-seamers and sinkers and stealing strikes with curveballs and sliders. The Tigers’ lefties would see 93-mph changeups, as well.
“What a good arm,” Hinch said. “He’s really developing into a power pitcher with plus stuff across the board. He was dominant.”
Leiter dispatched the first 12 hitters, striking out six, including Vierling, Colt Keith, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter in succession between the first and second innings. He ended up with 10 strikeouts on the night.
But in the fifth inning, his velocity dipped back to his norms and he started to miss his spots. In other words, he became more human.
“It was about being on time for the fastball,” Rogers said. “We were getting too late in the count and the adjustment was, hey, if he’s going to throw it, let’s jump it and be on time for it. We did a good job of getting on time for the heater and then Tork got a slider up and made him pay.”
After walking Greene on four pitches to open the bottom of the fifth, Leiter hung a slider to Torkelson. That ball left the bat at 102 mph and sailed over the Tigers’ bullpen and into the first row of seats in left field. It was Torkelson’s sixth homer.
“Whether Tork is hot or cold, he’s a threat,” Hinch said. “He is one swing away from changing the game. Even tonight. They pitched him tough. They got him to punch out a couple of times. But the home run was a game-changer, literally. … You look up and we have one hit and a two-run lead and it feels like we have a path to a win.”
In the sixth, Rogers scampered to third after his sinking liner eluded center fielder Evan Carter’s dive and rolled to the track. Rogers had no delusions about trying for a little league homer.
“As soon as I looked up and Joey (Cora, third base coach) hit the brakes, I said, OK, I will,” Rogers said.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle brought Rogers home with a pull-side single to right.
The Tigers broke the game open with four runs in the seventh, chasing Leiter and tacking on a couple of softly-struck RBI knocks against former Tiger Tyler Alexander.
Hao-Yu Lee ended Leiter’s night with a two-out RBI single. After Rogers blooped a single, McGonigle delivered his second RBI hit on a chopper over first baseman Burger and Vierling looped a two-run double.
Thus, the Tigers bullpen was able to bridge the game to Kyle Finnegan and Burch Smith in the eighth and ninth innings with a six-run lead. Good work if you can get it.
The Tigers (18-17) improve to 12-3 at home and have won all five of their series at Comerica.
“Pretty good sports day in Detroit, huh?” Hinch said. “Congratulations to the Pistons, winning Game 7 (against the Orlando Magic). I know they didn’t want to play it until they had to, but that was a cool way to start the day. And obviously a good night for us. Good day to be a Detroit sports fan.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers turn back the clock, ride pitching chaos to series win over Rangers
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
