Pittsburgh — Maybe we need to look at this whole playoff chase differently.
Riding the standings rollercoaster right now doesn’t seem particularly useful. In one faltering weekend, the Detroit Tigers went from sniffing first place to 5.5 games back. Conversely, with one weekend sweep, the Orioles went from being dead in the water to suddenly in the thick of the wild-card race.
With nearly a quarter of the season left to play, these mini-runs and mini-skids probably aren’t as pivotal or fatal as they seem at the time.
A better way to do this, at least for now, might be to make it about the win total. Instead of counting games behind, count wins. Any team with a serious chance to get into the postseason is going to need a win total that’s in the 80s. Get to 80 wins and see where you stand.
In that light, the Tigers picked up win No. 61 Monday night, hanging on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 at PNC Park. And, to illuminate the point about games behind, with just that one win, they’re back in second place in the division, 4.5 games behind the White Sox, and in a tie for the final wild-card spot with Texas.
“We have a lot of character on this team,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “And we’ve played so many games with a lot of attention around us, not just this season but over the last few seasons. I have a lot of trust and faith that we’re going to show up ready to play every day because it isn’t just a week or a month or a season. It’s multiple seasons of our style of play matching the day-to-day grind.”
This one was more nerve-wracking than it needed to be, especially after the Tigers built an 8-1 lead.
“It was a good team win,” Hinch said. “I know the way we got there was a little bit of pressure. But you can’t ever be mad after a win.”
Four two-out runs in the first two innings set the tone against Pirates starter Carmen Mldozinski.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 8, Pirates 5
Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and Hao-Yu Lee all poked two-out singles in a two-run first inning.
In the second, after Gleyber Torres singled with two outs, Kevin McGonigle detonated a 0-1 cutter and sent his 13th homer of the year 405 feet to the concourse in right center.
“We did a good job of passing the bat down the line and sticking to our approach,” said McGonigle, who had been in a 2-for-19 skid. “Just really good at-bats from everyone tonight. Super pumped for the win and looking forward to going into tomorrow.”
McGonigle had a pair of hits and he credited hitting coach Michael Brdar for helping him get back on track.
“I got with the hitting coaches today and looked at video from last year and earlier this year to see what I was doing then,” he said. “And I was able to bring it into tonight. They did a good job of locking me back in. All props to the hitting guys.”
Asked what the adjustment was, McGonigle said, “I think I was getting too antsy in the box, trying to do too much. Just simplify my approach a little bit. Slow motion swing; that’s what I thought of today and it felt good.”
Fellow rookie Max Clark, who also had two hits, lined an RBI single in the fifth and probably saved two runs with an outstanding running catch with two on in the second inning. He raced back to the track in left-center and caught a drive by Jake Magnum just as he was hitting the fence.
“We were playing in,” Clark said. “He’s a speed guy and he hits the ball on the ground a lot. If he hits a slow ground ball through the middle, it’s a double. So we’re playing in and shifted to the opposite field. When he flushed it, I just put my head down and ran as fast as I could. It kept going. I was getting nervous there for a second. That’s a tall wall. I can’t get up on that one.”
The bigger worry was whether he’d crash through the wall, because he never slowed down until he caught the ball, then took one step into the wall.
It looked like the Tigers put the game in the bag in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of three straight walks by righty Yohan Ramirez and scoring three runs.
Rookie Brett Callahan, in his second big-league game, capped the inning with a two-run single.
“Really good at-bats all up and down the lineup,” Hinch said. “It was nice to see the young guys come through with big swings when we needed it.”
Lee was on base five times (three singles and two walks). McKinstry, not a new guy, contributed two singles, a double and a walk.
At that point, lefty starter Framber Valdez had allowed one unearned run and three hits. But he would not survive the bottom of the sixth.
“Unfortunately, that sixth inning is going to take a little away from Framber’s night,” Hinch said. “But he was really good tonight. Early he was pounding the zone but for whatever reason, he lost it at the end. Whether it was fatigue or trying to be too fine. The two-out walks got him.”
With two outs and a runner on second, Valdez walked Rafael Flores Jr., and Magnum to load the bases. He fell behind No. 8 hitter Nick Yorke 3-1 before putting a 92-mph sinker up and in the middle of the plate.
On the previous pitch, the chain around his neck broke and Valdez fumbled to get it secured while the pitch clock ran down. Yorke lined the next pitch into the corner in left, clearing the bases and ending Valdez’s night.
Kyle Finnegan entered and after getting two strikes on No. 9 hitter Henry Davis, he couldn’t put him away. Davis lashed an RBI single, making it a three-run game.
The Pirates carried the momentum into the seventh. An error by Javier Báez and a walk put two on with one out when Hinch called on lefty Drew Sommers. He instantly stopped the bleeding, getting five straight outs.
“He’s been unreal,” McGonigle said of Sommers. “When he first got called up, he wasn’t attacking guys right away. He’s done a good job of adjusting and going right at them. His stuff is real. We all see that playing behind him.”
Sommers got Brandon Lowe to ground out and he struck out Flores to end the seventh.
“I just throw strikes,” Sommers said. “It’s as simple as that. Just turn off the brain and throw the ball. Get the sign from Ding (catcher Dillon Dingler) and throw.”
He pitched a clean eighth, striking out Yorke and Davis after retiring Magnum on a close 3-1 play at first base.
Spencer Torkelson, just in the game, fielded a high chop. Magnum and Sommers got to the bag at about the same time. Initially, Magnum was called safe. It was overturned on replay.
“I saw Tork get the ball and I heard (Magnum) coming behind me pretty quick,” Sommers said. “It was just, first catch the ball and get to the bag. Thankfully I was a little faster than him. I just slammed my foot to the bag as quick as I could.”
That left it to Kenley Jansen, who closed it out with a flourish, getting called third strikes on Esmerlyn Valdez (on a successful challenge by Dingler) and Bryan Reynolds. The game’s active saves leader has 16 this season and is eight short of joining Hall-of-Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in baseball’s 500-save club.
No such thing as a bad win.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers get good at-bats in clutch vs. Pirates, get back in win column
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
