Tigers Show Fight But Come Up Short in Loss

While the news of Riley Greene going to the injured list wasn’t the way Tigers fans wanted to start the day, the Tigers pressed on Wednesday night as they tried to get back to .500.

Greene was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain after leaving Tuesday night’s win over Cleveland. Detroit recalled outfielder Corey Julks from Triple-A Toledo as part of a series of roster moves before the game. Greene had appeared in 117 of Detroit’s first 119 games this season, hitting .273/.366/.450 with 16 home runs and 54 RBIs.

Unfortunately for Detroit, the climb back to the break-even mark will have to wait another day.

The Guardians beat the Tigers, 6-4, Wednesday night at Comerica Park, dropping Detroit to 59-61 and evening the series at one game apiece. Cleveland made Framber Valdez work immediately.

Steven Kwan walked to begin the game, Chase DeLauter followed with a single and José Ramírez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Jo Adell grounded into a double play that scored Kwan, but Angel Martínez followed with an RBI double to give Cleveland an early 2-0 lead. Detroit responded quickly.

Dillon Dingler reached on an error and Hao-Yu Lee doubled with two outs, bringing Spencer Torkelson to the plate with a chance to erase the early deficit. Torkelson did exactly that, lining a two-run double to center to score both runners and tie the game at 2.

Gleyber Torres then gave Detroit its first lead in the third inning, driving a Foster Griffin pitch out to left-center for his eighth home run of the season and a 3-2 Tigers advantage.

The problem was that Valdez never completely found a rhythm.

He kept Cleveland off the board in the second, third and fourth innings, but his command remained inconsistent. In the fifth, Valdez walked Ramírez before Adell turned on a pitch for a two-run homer, his 18th of the season, putting Cleveland back ahead, 4-3.

Valdez finished after 5 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with five walks. The five walks were particularly costly on a night when Detroit needed its veteran left-hander to provide some length.

The game remained 4-3 until the seventh, when Cleveland added the two runs that ultimately provided the difference.

Martínez doubled off Ty Madden before Enmanuel De Jesus entered. De Jesus struck out Nathaniel Lowe, but Angel Genao doubled home Martínez and Austin Hedges followed with an RBI single to extend Cleveland’s lead to 6-3. Detroit had opportunities to make things interesting late.

Kevin McGonigle walked to begin the eighth, and after Zach McKinstry singled with two outs, McGonigle scored on a Cade Smith wild pitch to make it 6-4. Max Clark, however, struck out to end the inning.

The Tigers made one final push in the ninth. Javier Báez singled to left and, after James Outman struck out, Torres singled to put two runners aboard. But Smith struck out Dingler on three straight fastballs before McGonigle grounded out to end the game. The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate but couldn’t finish the comeback.

Detroit finished with seven hits, with Torres accounting for two of them along with the home run. Torkelson’s first-inning double drove in two, while McGonigle reached twice on walks and scored the Tigers’ final run. It was a missed opportunity more than anything else.

After Tuesday’s 6-4 victory moved Detroit to within one game of .500, Wednesday offered a chance to get there for the first time during this recent push. Instead, the Tigers fell to 59-61 and will need to take Thursday’s series finale to win the series before continuing their chase in the American League playoff race.

And now they’ll have to continue that chase, at least for the immediate future, without Greene in the middle of the lineup.

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