Detroit — The Tigers’ offense was dormant for six-plus innings against clever lefty Martin Perez and they dragged into the bottom of the ninth trailing the Chicago White Sox, 3-1.
But then Javier Báez led off with a sharp single, his third hit of the game, and suddenly players were on the top step of the dugout.
“We’re never out of it,” said Spencer Torkelson, who ripped a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers a 4-3 win and a series sweep at Comerica Park. “We feel like we’ve got a chance as long as we keep the line moving.”
Torkelson’s place in that ninth-inning line was sixth and with every at-bat, his adrenaline pumped harder and harder.
“You see those at-bats in front of you and you just want to get in the batter’s box,” he said. “The focus those guys had and the at-bats they put together were unbelievable.”
After Báez was forced out at second base by Trey Sweeney’s ground ball, Zach McKinstry worked a 10-pitch walk and Riley Greene worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases. That was two left-handed hitters grinding out walks against White Sox lefty reliever Fraser Ellard.
“Incredible, incredible at-bats by our guys,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “That’s not easy. I was just hoping the guys weren’t going to try to play hero. Just keep passing the baton, keep putting up good at-bats.”
White Sox manager Will Venable summoned right-hander Jordan Leasure to face righty Andy Ibáñez. Ibáñez battled for eight pitches, finally drawing a walk and forcing home Sweeney to make it 3-2.
“Eventually, then, somebody needs to be the hero,” Hinch said.
Tork time.
“If you don’t want to be in the batter’s box right then, you’ve got a problem,” said Torkelson, who stroked a 1-0 fastball into the left-field corner and was mobbed at second base by his teammates.
“The hard part was over with,” he said. “I felt like I had the easy job.”
Actually, his approach against Leasure was every bit as sound as the previous at-bats. Hinch and the Tigers’ hitting coaches constantly preach a balance between patience and aggression at the plate.
“The approach doesn’t change,” Torkelson said. “You are still trying to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it. You know he’s kind of spraying the ball a little, so his mistake might be right down the middle. He’s not trying to dot any corners right there. You kind of feel like the mistake is always coming right there.”
The seeds of that rally were sown in the seventh inning, when Hinch made what seemed at the time to be a head-scratching move, using Riley Greene to pinch-hit for designated hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy. There were two outs and White Sox reliever Mike Clevinger walked Sweeney and McKinstry.
Hinch knew that lefty Cam Booser was warm in the Chicago bullpen and would likely be summoned.
“Obviously, trying to put pressure on them where they have to make a decision,” Hinch said. “Will (Venable) was prepared the whole way. They had their guys ready. But the game was going fast and it was early. We had a lot of outs left.”
Venable won that round. Booser struck out Greene to end the inning. But his bullpen had been worn thin this entire series and it was now thinner using two relievers to get out of the seventh.
“It was Sweeney’s at-bat and McKinstry’s at-bat that set up the decision with Malloy,” Hinch said. “We had Riley on the bench and I knew they circled him and they’re going to make that decision. If Riley can get on, then we have Ibáñez against a lefty or maybe Riley puts one in the seats or in a gap. It didn’t work out.
“But when it rolled around again, I was able to keep Riley in the game and move our defense around just for a couple of innings.”
By the eighth inning, Báez had moved from shortstop to center field, the first time he’s ever played center in the big leagues. McKinstry, who made three sterling defensive plays at second, was out in right field. Colt Keith entered at second base and Sweeney at shortstop.
Still, Venable had to feel like he was in a good spot in the ninth, with three left-handed hitters coming up and Ellard on the mound.
But the Tigers kept winning the battles. McKinstry’s walk especially seemed like a back-breaker. Ellard had him in 1-2 hole and couldn’t put him away. McKinstry fouled off two pitches, took a fastball just off the outside edge, didn’t chase a dirt ball, and fouled off two more before Ellard missed badly on the 10th pitch.
Ellard never came close to the zone on any pitch to Greene.
And all the while Torkelson was champing at the bit.
“I love that about him,” Hinch said. “I love how connected these guys are. The celebration was really cool. It’s a broken record with us, but you have to play the whole game. When you do that, sometimes you get rewarded.”
This win personified another of Hinch’s managerial mantras: Everything matters.
It mattered that rookie Jackson Jobe, though he was again inconsistent with his stuff and his command, was able to grind out five innings, allowing three runs (two earned).
“For him to last until the fifth allowed us to save our bullpen,” Hinch said. “We were really in good shape toward the end because he didn’t cave. He stayed in the competition and completed his five innings.”
It mattered that reliever John Brebbia was able to take the ball in the ninth, after throwing 25 pitches in two scoreless innings Saturday. Brenan Hanifee got six straight outs in the sixth and seventh, getting six ground balls. Tommy Kahnle pitched a clean eighth. And Hinch wanted to stay away from both Beau Brieske and Will Vest.
“He’s got a resilient arm,” Hinch said. “Him being able to take down that last inning was a very big part of this win.”
It mattered that Báez is adapting so well to a new utility role. His second-inning single scored the only run off Perez. He also helped Jobe get out of the fifth with an amazing tag on Luis Robert Jr. at second base.
“Javy is the biggest gamer I’ve ever played with,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “That’s the second really cool tag I’ve seen out of him on one of my throws. I don’t know if anybody else could’ve done it.”
Báez had to dive in front of second base to snare Dingler’s throw. He did that, catching the ball on Robert’s back leg as he was sliding head-first into the base.
“If you can choose one guy in the league to receive a throw down, as a former catcher, give me Javy every time,” Hinch said. “He will stick his nose in there and he’s fast. It still surprises me and I see it every time he plays.”
It mattered, too, when Manny Margot hustled to second base on a long fly out by Kerry Carpenter in the second inning to get into scoring position for Báez’s single. It mattered when Báez hustled from second to third on a fly out to left in the fifth even though he was stranded.
“Every 90 feet you can get,” Hinch said. “Javy put us in a position where they had to play the infield in. Because he didn’t score doesn’t make that play not matter. Everything we do has a purpose and our guys are all in. I love this team for the way they pay attention to detail.
“It’s not always perfect. It wasn’t a great start to this game. But they stayed in the competition and found a way. This team is built the right way.”
The Tigers, with the Yankees coming in for three games starting Monday, have won five of the last six since being swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles to start the season.
@cmccosky
