Bullpen buckles as Detroit Tigers give up 4 in 9th for 9th straight loss, 7-5 to Arizona
In the Detroit Tigers’ earliest game of the season, the big swings came late, as the Arizona Diamondbacks scored four runs in the ninth inning off reliever Jason Foley for a 7-5 victory at Comerica Park.
With two outs, runners on first and second and down to his final strike, Arizona's Christian Walker doubled to left to plate two runs and give the Diamondbacks their first lead since the second inning. The loss is the Tigers' ninth straight, all in June; they haven't won since beating Texas on May 31.
Late shuffle
Left-hander Joey Wentz, scratched from the start early Sunday morning, delivered 4 1/3 innings of one-hit ball in relief. After allowing two runs on the first two batters he faced, Wentz settled in and retired the next 12 Diamondbacks, with four strikeouts during his run. He finished with strikes on 37 of his 62 pitches, drawing four of his eight whiffs with his four-seam fastball.
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Finding some offense
The Tigers’ bats weren’t late, either, for a game with an 11:35 a.m. first pitch: A day after being shut out for the third time this month, the Tigers (27-36) scored five runs in the first four innings off Arizona ace Zac Gallen. Gallen allowed a career-high 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings.
The big Detroit blast came in a Zach-on-Zac matchup in the fourth inning; the extra “H” was for “home run,” as Zach McKinstry took Gallen deep to right field on a 90.3 mph cutter for a two-run home run. McKinstry also turned in a web gem with a diving catch of a looping flyball in the right-field corner to end the top of the sixth inning.
Zac attack
The Tigers struck early, stringing together two two-out singles (from Kerry Carpenter and Javier Báez) and a double from Nick Maton for a 1-0 lead. The left-handed Maton sent the first pitch he saw, an 81.8 mph knuckle-curve from Gallen, on a high arc toward the left-field line. Rookie Corbin Carroll was unable to make a sliding catch, and the ball bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double as Carpenter scored.
For openers
Right-hander Will Vest was the surprise starter, rather than Wentz, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch tried to give the Diamondbacks a different look. Vest had about as much success against Carroll, the Diamondbacks’ young standout, as other Tigers pitchers, though. The rookie, who entered Sunday hitting .301 with 13 homers (including two on Friday night) and 18 steals in 61 games, hammered the fourth pitch of his at-bat against Vest, an 86.8 mph changeup, into the right-center gap for a one-out triple. (Carroll finished a home run short of the cycle.) Vest kept the Diamondbacks off the board, however, with a pair of flyouts.
Oh no, Joe
Wentz entered to open the second inning and got into immediate trouble with a walk to veteran right-hander Evan Longoria. It got worse against the next batter, Pavin Smith. The lefty launched Wentz’s four-seam fastball 376 feet the opposite way. In Arizona’s Chase Field, it would have been a long out, but at Comerica Park, Carpenter could only leap at it as it went over the left-field fence and into the bullpen to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead. With the bases cleared, Wentz retired the side, getting a strikeout (of Nick Ahmed on another four-seam fastball), a flyout and a groundout.
Even again
Báez, hitting fourth for the first time since mid-April, delivered in the third inning. On the first pitch of his second at-bat (a 93.1 mph fastball), he lofted a flyball to center field to score Spencer Torkelson from third and tie the game at 2-all. Torkelson reached by scorching a four-seam fastball from Gallen – with an exit velocity of 109.3 mph – to left field for a double, then advanced to third on Carpenter’s single to center.
Carpenter finished 3-for-4; Sunday was his third straight multi-hit game, all since returning from the 10-day injured list Friday. Jake Marisnick went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Hit parade
Miguel Cabrera’s single with one out in the fourth inning was the 3,111st of his career, snapping a tie with Dave Winfield for 22nd in MLB history. Next up: Alex Rodriguez, at 3,115. Cabrera came around to score one batter later, on Marisnick’s scorched double to center with one out. It was Marisnick’s first extra-base hit in the majors since July 17, 2022. Marisnick didn’t spend much time on second base, either; McKinstry pulled the first pitch he saw just over the right-field fence. Again, it wouldn’t have been a home run in Arizona, but in Detroit, McKinstry’s fifth homer of 2023 gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead.
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Bittersweet relief
After a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte in the sixth, Hinch stuck with Wentz against Carroll. The lefty drove the ball to center field, but Marisnick was there to make the catch. That was enough for Hinch, though, who turned to right-hander José Cisnero out of the bullpen. Cisnero needed just eight pitches to get a pair of flyballs – one a harmless popup to Torkelson at first, the other McKinstry’s diving catch – and end the thread.
After Cisnero walked Longoria to open the seventh, Hinch brought in lefty Chasen Shreve to face Smith. The move didn’t work, however, as Smith singled to right despite the platoon mismatch. Shreve then got to two outs, with a strikeout and a nice play by Maton, who ranged toward first base, spun and threw while jumping to get a forceout at second. Hinch wasn’t taking any chances after that, with runners on first and third; following the announcement of pinch-hitter Emmanuel Rivera, Hinch called upon his de facto closer, Alex Lange. The AL’s Reliever of the Month in May who had struggled in two previous June appearances, Lange then struck out Rivera on four pitches, getting the righty swinging on an 85.9 mph curveball to end the inning.
Lange continued into the eighth, but was stung by a double top left by Carroll, who then stole third and scored on a groundout. Lange was chased by a double by Christian Walker and followed by Tyler Holton, who issued two walks to load the bases before striking out Ahmed to finish the inning. Jason Foley entered to open the ninth, but couldn't notch his third save of the season.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers collapse in 9th inning for 7-5 loss to Arizona
