The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 4-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday:
One thing I loved
It can be tough going home again. It’s easy for the emotions to get the best of ya.
But Framber Valdez, for all his ups and downs this season, the first after signing a three-year, $115-million contract with the Tigers this winter, handled the return to Houston like a stud. He went six innings and allowed just one run, and it was an unearned run when the Astros scored a run on a two-out passed ball by Dillon Dingler to tie the game in the fifth inning. (That was Dingler’s second passed ball of the year, after he didn’t have one all of last season. Dingler did make amends with a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.)
Valdez, who signed with the Astros as a 21-year-old in 2015 and pitched his first eight major-league seasons with Houston, wasn’t flawless, but his stuff might’ve been the best he’s shown so far wearing a Detroit uniform. The curveball was especially electric.
In the third inning, after the first two Astros reached, Valdez showed some grit and moxie, striking out the next two hitters (on a curveball and a sinker), before getting the final out on a groundout. He finished with six strikeouts, his most in a start in more than a month. He allowed six hits and three walks.
Still, the Tigers lost for the seventh time in his last eight starts, when the bullpen (and some shoddy defense … Kevin McGonigle, woof) coughed up the lead in the eighth inning.
One thing I didn’t
There are questionable sends, and then there’s whatever the heck Tigers third-base coach Joey Cora was thinking in the first inning Tuesday night.
With Dillon Dingler on first base and two out, Riley Greene ripped a ball sharply off the wall in right field. Greene made the mistake of hitting the ball too hard. It was 112 mph off the bat. The ball went right over right fielder Cam Smith’s head, and bounced right back to him. It seemed like it would set up runners on second and third with two out for Spencer Torkelson, but Cora stunningly waved Dingler around third, the Astros executed the easy relay easily and Dingler was thrown out by at least 15 feet at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Now, I’m all for aggressive base running, especially with two out, because there are no guarantees what would’ve happened with the next hitter (Torkelson vs. Hunter Brown, or anyone vs. Hunter Brown, and I’m taking Brown, even fresh off the injured list), and Dingler runs well for a catcher. But not that well. Dingler was just getting to third base when shortstop Jeremy Pena caught the relay throw from Smith, standing on the infield dirt.
Yeah, that one was a head-scratcher. And I suspect Cora would like a mulligan.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Hao-Yu Lee (6) — Responsible for both Tigers runs. He drove in the first with a scorching single in the second inning and he scored the second after leading off the eighth inning with a double. I like watching him swing the ball. He swings hard, in case he hits it.
Hunter Brown — The Wayne State alum didn’t miss a beat in his long-awaited return from a shoulder strain. In his first start since March 31, he struck out seven and allowed three hits over 5.2 innings. He did walk three.
Riley Greene (18)
Player of the game
(Season total in parentheses)
Framber Valdez (2)
Tigers’ ABS tracker
Next Tigers game
Game 74: Tigers at Astros, 2:10 Wednesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 73: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
