Tigers walked off twice in crushing Cleveland doubleheader

CLEVELAND – On the service level at Progressive Field, just outside the visiting clubhouse, there’s a mural on the wall depicting the street signs noting the corner of Ontario Street and Carnegie Avenue, where the stadium is located.

The Tigers do not recognize that address. For them, this place is the intersection of injury and insult.

The Guardians franchise has produced 105 walk-off home runs since moving into this park in 1994, 13 more than any other MLB team has hit in that span. It only feels like they’ve hit 100 of them at the Tigers’ expense.

The actual number is 13, still more than any other opponent has given up here. Three of them came from Hall of Famer Jim Thome. On Friday afternoon, Brayan Rocchio added his name to the list in the Tigers’ 7-6 loss.

"There's a lot of game, 27 outs. You're going to play them all,” manager A.J. Hinch said between games. “They did a lot with their opportunities and ... yeah, I'm kind of at a loss for words because that's a tough one."

The nightcap to Friday’s doubleheader proved no easier. The Tigers only gave up a game-tying home run Friday night, keeping the ball in the yard in the ninth and 10th innings. Yet when the Guardians celebrated a doubleheader sweep on a 10th-inning single up the middle from Travis Bazzana, the same batter who tied it, avoiding the home run was no consolation as the Tigers fell 4-3.

“I’ve been doing it for so long, and being in those situations, it’s still not a great feeling, especially the way I’ve been playing,” said Kenley Jansen, who didn’t pitch in Game 1 but gave up the single to end Game 2. “I get a break at third, two outs, one more pitch. I’m throwing the ball really well. I break his bat. I didn’t want to double up on that slider because he’s not on [the cutter] and then he just totally sells out and cheated to it. It sucks. Definitely.”

At least the injury part of the intersection doesn’t appear to be serious. Hao-Yu Lee left Friday’s nightcap with a left shin contusion on a nasty collision at home plate in the third inning, but seemed to be fine afterwards and gave a thumbs-up as he walked out of the clubhouse.

Still, the mental wounds are piling up with a young team:

• The Tigers have 10 walk-off losses this season, tied with the Royals for most in the American League and trailing only the Giants (12) in the Majors. With three-plus weeks left in the season, it’s already the most walk-off losses by a Tigers team since their 114-loss season in 2019 included 10 walk-offs.

• They’re 13-25 in one-run games, tied with the Angels and Giants for most one-run losses.

• They’ve lost 41 games in which they’ve led, tied with the Angels for second-most behind only the Nationals (42) in the Majors. 20 of those losses have come when leading in the seventh or later (most in the Majors).

“Well, they’re close games, and those hurt more,” Hinch said. “But it is what it is. Obviously you have to find a way to do whatever you can to scratch out a win.”

Said Kevin McGonigle: “I think we should keep using it as fuel, go out and play harder the next day. It’s my first year. I’m still new to all this of course, but I think everyone in here has a sick feeling in their stomach. It’s a terrible feeling, and I think the only thing we can do is use it as fuel.”

The walk-off losses overshadowed a few good developments for a young team:

• In the nightcap, Andrew Sears was in line for his first MLB victory in his first big league start, keeping a high-contact Guardians lineup off-balance for 10 whiffs in 37 swings over 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Four of those swings and misses came off a fastball that topped out at 96.2 mph but hitters had a hard time squaring up, including a pair of strikeouts in the second inning and a called third strike in the fourth. He didn’t allow a run until his 93rd and final pitch, a Nathaniel Lowe double.

• The infield defense was much improved, including a pair of key outs at third base. McGonigle was at third base for a throw from Javier Báez to erase a leadoff baserunner in the seventh inning of Game 1, then executed a wheel play from shortstop perfectly to erase the automatic runner at third to begin the bottom of the 10th in Game 2.

• Dillon Dingler continues to show signs of escaping his late-summer slump, including a pinch-hit double in the fifth inning of Game 2 to set up a run.