Báez flashes pop, McGonigle flashes leather as Tigers regroup in wake of Meadows injury

DETROIT -- All wins are equal in the standings. They are not all equal in the mind.

The Tigers returned home Wednesday night reeling from the combination of a series sweep in Minnesota and a devastating outfield collision that left Parker Meadows in the hospital. Their mood still seemed subdued as they reported to Comerica Park Friday afternoon.

They got a much-needed boost Friday night from Keider Montero and two of the players who are key to filling in for Meadows, and they got a 2-0 win that they badly needed, not just to end a five-game losing streak but to change the vibe.

“Yeah, for sure,” said Javier Báez, whose fifth-inning solo homer provided a critical add-on run in his first start in center field this season. “That’s not the team we are, when we get that streak of losing. I don’t think we have been playing bad baseball. We just haven’t been really scoring runs. Other than that, we’ve been playing pretty good.”

Hours after the Tigers placed Meadows on the 10-day injured list with a concussion and a broken left arm, Báez became the first part of the replacement plan, reprising the role he filled early last season while Meadows was sidelined by a nerve issue in his right arm. What began as an emergency plan last year became a path to rejuvenation for Báez, who earned an All-Star selection last summer while bouncing between center and short. It’s not a full-time solution – Matt Vierling and just-recalled Wenceel Pérez will also see time in center – but there’s a real thought that Báez plays at his best when he’s seeing time there.

“I don’t know. I mean, he had a pretty good game [Thursday] in Minnesota at shortstop,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I know in a lot of ways, I think the moving around keeps him sharp, but I could put him at shortstop every day and he would be perfectly fine. …

“I just think he’s like a kid again. He likes playing out there, but I don’t see an energy boost or a difference in him as much as I see a willing teammate go out and fill a void that was unfortunately open.”

Said Báez: “We feel sorry for losing Parker. Awful situation with him, hopefully we get him back as soon as possible. He’s a big key for our team, the way he covers back there. But I feel really good out there. Every time I have an off-day, I go out there and shag and make sure I get some reads out there. Nothing different.”

The Tigers and Montero were clinging to a 1-0 lead when Báez led off the fifth inning against former Tiger Chris Paddack, who fed him a heavy diet of sweepers all night and tried to finish him off with the same. Paddack sent a 2-2 pitch diving just off the plate.

Just off isn’t far enough.

“That's why he's Javy Báez; he's able to hit pitches out of the zone,” Paddack said. “Guys try to throw out of zone on purpose. I wanted that in the left-handed batter's box to see if he'll go at it. But I didn't, and he's able to make pitches out of the zone 101 off the bat, just over the wall.”

The ball actually hit the top of the left-field fence and bounced over. It counts all the same for his first home run since last Sept. 28.

“I went to get it out there, finally got it good,” Báez said.

When Báez plays center, of course, somebody else has to play shortstop. A good share of those starts will go to Kevin McGonigle, who continues to show enough to believe he can handle it. In case there was any doubt, he went deep into the hole for an Agustín Ramírez ground ball and unleashed a throw from the left-field grass that reached an outstretched Spencer Torkelson at first base in time for the first out of the fourth inning.

“He came off the field and he was super pumped,” Hinch said. “Those are all firsts for him when you think about it.”

The only real defensive miscue came on a play that nearly brought three fielders together. McGonigle continued to pursue a Connor Norby fly ball into shallow left as Riley Greene got a late read, leaving open space for the ball to drop.

Montero pitched around the hard-luck double in the fifth, fanning Javier Sanoja on a nasty slider. Montero struck out three consecutive Marlins from the fifth inning into the sixth, giving him seven strikeouts for the night against just two hits and a walk in his second start filling in for injured Justin Verlander.