DETROIT -- The Tigers built back-to-back playoff runs on the mindset of competing for 27 outs. Just because their postseason hopes are fading doesn’t change that.
Say what you will about the importance of September baseball for teams that are on the wrong side of the standings. The Tigers see value in the at-bats they put together in Saturday’s seven-run eighth inning for an 11-7 win over the Rockies at Comerica Park. More importantly, they see value in the frame of mind behind the rally.
“We talked a little bit before the game with the young guys about small details,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “And we’re not performing in close games as well as we’re going to. But you have to go live it. You have to experience it.
“I can tell them a story about the ‘24 team that came from behind and [when] Parker Meadows hit a grand slam in San Diego, and they’ll head-nod, and they can go look it up on their phones. But it’s different when you live it.”
Saturday’s rally doesn’t come with anything close to the implications that Meadows’ grand slam had two Septembers ago, helping ignite the late-season charge that earned the Tigers their first postseason berth in a decade. But it’s an investment in the future, much like their latest such comeback.
The last time the Tigers overcame two deficits of three or more runs in a win, they were wrapping up a similarly flustering season in 2010. The Twins, who were on their way to a second straight AL Central title, posted a pair of five-run innings on Sept. 25. The Tigers rallied twice. Rookie leadoff hitter Austin Jackson had four hits and a sacrifice fly, and he scored the tying run in the seventh. Brandon Inge hit a walk-off single in the 13th, scoring Miguel Cabrera. Rookie reliever Daniel Schlereth, now the newest member of the Michigan State baseball program, struck out back-to-back hitters with the bases loaded in the top of the inning. Detroit won the next four AL Central crowns, with Jackson as one of the club's key cogs.
So imagine Hao-Yu Lee’s emotions as he represented the bookends of Saturday’s eighth-inning rally, starting with a leadoff double, then punctuating it with a 12-pitch at-bat ending in a two-run triple.
“I’m hoping this experience for Lee, the experience for [John] Peck, for Max [Clark], for Kevin [McGonigle] being a seasoned veteran compared to some of the young guys coming up, everything matters,” Hinch said. “And a day like today will be sort of a place on the calendar that guys can reference when we’re in this spot again.”
The Tigers had every reason to think Saturday wasn’t their day as they came into the dugout with a 7-4 deficit. They didn’t know what to make of Ezequiel Tovar’s quirky homer in the top of the eighth to restore the three-run gap, whether it hit the base of the foul pole or a fan’s glove or something else. But they knew they’d put the leadoff batter on base in each of the first seven innings, and that they had 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“Honestly, I think everyone was not worried about it,” McGonigle said. “We were just so locked in on putting more runs on the board. I think we did a really good job of just flushing that and competing.”
The Tigers needed just seven pitches from Jaden Hill to post four consecutive hits, going from three runs down to having the go-ahead run on base. Lee and Gleyber Torres hit back-to-back doubles. Riley Greene and Eduardo Valencia singled on consecutive pitches, the latter after faking a bunt.
Clark’s five-pitch walk off Hill loaded the bases. Jordan Romano, who had been preparing to close the game for Colorado, suddenly had to rescue it early. He was so rushed, perhaps, that he picked up a pitch-timer violation and automatic ball before his first pitch, which came back to haunt him when Spencer Torkelson stayed patient and drew the game-tying walk.
“Unbelievable job by the guys in front of me,” Torkelson said. “I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit, got a couple pitches, fouled them off. But I was proud of that at-bat, because I didn’t get too antsy. It’s easy to do that in big situations.”
Rookie Ben Malgeri followed suit, taking three consecutive pitches out of the zone after a 1-2 count to walk in the go-ahead run. Peck’s sacrifice fly plated Clark before Lee fouled off seven pitches to get to a high fastball he could launch.
“This is what this team is,” Clark said. “It’s really fun. There’s no quit in our guys. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”