McGonigle continues to push past rookie wall with HR in 2nd straight game

DETROIT -- For a second or two on Tuesday night, Kevin McGonigle looked like he had summoned some of the comeback magic that has been working against the Tigers for a while.

He’d stayed away from Jeff Hoffman’s array of splitters and sliders, forcing the Twins’ setup man into the zone with a 3-1 fastball. The 95.6 mph heater floated at the top of the zone near the inside corner, and McGonigle centered it, sending a drive that had Twins right fielder Luke Keaschall retreating towards the wall.

“McGonigle, right fiellll … ,” the Tigers’ TV play-by-play broadcaster exclaimed, his hesitation noting the suspense waiting to see where the ball was headed.

The crowd came to life, hoping for the long-elusive tying run. McGonigle was hoping for some fortune, but didn’t think he’d gotten it.

“I got jammed a little bit,” he said.

Keaschall stopped a step in front of the right-field wall to make the grab for the first out of the eighth.

It was that kind of night for the Tigers, who suffered another comeback loss on former Tiger Kody Clemens’ two-run homer for a 3-2 defeat. But considering McGonigle had built Detroit’s lead in the first place with his two-run homer, it was not that kind of night for the Tigers’ rookie infielder.

When the Tigers returned home from Cleveland Sunday night coming off three walk-off losses in as many days, McGonigle looked like a young player wearing down in the stretch run of his first Major League season. He was mired in a 6-for-43 slump with one extra-base hit over his previous 11 games, and hadn’t homered since Aug. 23 in Kansas City. He hadn’t homered at Comerica Park since July 10, the weekend before his All-Star trip, off Philly’s Aaron Nola.

Considering Tuesday marked his 140th game this season, well past his previous high for any year as a pro, fatigue made sense.

“It’s funny, I will get asked about him away from the microphone, about him slowing down or struggling a little bit,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I’m like, ‘Man, shouldn’t we all want to struggle like Kevin McGonigle?’ Because his at-bat quality is very, very competitive. He usually has a plan he executes.

“... He’s been going through it for a little while now, and even when he does, he finds a way.”

Just when McGonigle seemed to be fading, he turned on a Joe Ryan fastball with two strikes and sent it deep to right in his first at-bat Monday afternoon. At 108.4 miles per hour, it was his hardest exit velocity on a ball in exactly three months.

On Tuesday, he led off the first inning with a 10-pitch battle against Twins starter Dean Kremer, culminating in a line-drive single into center. Four innings later, he had another homer, this time going opposite field on a Kremer fastball for a go-ahead two-run homer. He was a split-second late on the fastball, he said, but got enough contact to send it out to the left-field corner.

“Today was a better day when it comes to the swing,” McGonigle said. “I made some adjustments yesterday in the cage. Good to see them paying off a little bit. Just trying to get on base, trying to help this team. The more times I’m on base, the more times we score, I feel like. That’s with everyone else in here as well. So, trying to put good at-bats together, get on base and help these guys out.”

McGonigle is the first Tigers rookie with at least 15 home runs and 85 walks in a season. With 2 1/2 weeks left in the regular season, he won’t eclipse former Tiger Dale Alexander’s gaudy rookie totals from 1929 – his 25 homers, 43 doubles, 15 triples, 137 RBIs, 110 runs scored and 215 hits set a pretty high bar for a hitter of any experience level – but he’s done plenty to make his case for American League Rookie of the Year consideration, and cemented his spot as part of the Tigers’ foundation.

The Tigers’ lineup Tuesday featured five rookies. It’s easy to forget McGonigle is one of them. He still makes rookie mistakes; he was doubled off second base following his first-inning single in a bout of overaggressive baserunning. But he does more to feel and look like a veteran.

“He’s not immune to mistakes or a bad game here or there,” Hinch said, “but he’s certainly a winning player.”