What Scott Harris learned from Theo Epstein to improve Detroit Tigers
The “Days of Roar” podcast talks with ESPN’s Jesse Rogers about what lessons Scott Harris gained from Theo Epstein to mold the Detroit Tigers.
The Detroit Tigers couldn’t figure out Elly De La Cruz all weekend.
Cincinnati’s star youngster went 3-for-5 with three RBI, including a knockout two-run home run in the ninth inning to give the Reds an 8-4 win over the Tigers on Sunday, June 15. With losses on consecutive days, following an 11-1 losing performance on Saturday, June 14, the Tigers dropped the three-game series to Cincinnati.
Tigers pitchers held down the Reds for most of the game, but got in trouble in the eighth with reliever Brant Hurter starting off the inning and closer Will Vest unable to hold a 4-2 lead.
The inning started with Reds leadoff hitter TJ Friedl reaching on a throwing error from Hurter, who then scored on consecutive singles from Matt McLain and De La Cruz once Vest entered the game.
Vest then struck out Tyler Stephenson and induced a grounder from Christian Encarnacion-Strand that could have forced an inning-ending double play, but a bobble from third baseman Zach McKinstry kept the inning alive for the Reds. A sacrifice fly from Connor Joe scored McLain and tied the game at 4-4, while an RBI single from Gavin Lux scored De La Cruz and gave the Reds a 5-4 lead.
A wild pitch from Vest allowed Encarnacion-Strand to score, pushing the score to 6-4, before Vest left the game accompanied by a trainer. He finished with three hits allowed and one strikeout over ⅔ of an inning pitched.
De La Cruz then provided the knockout punch with a two-run home run in the ninth inning, extending the Reds lead to four and nullifying the Tigers’ seventh-inning rally.
With the game tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, shortstop Javier Báez led off the inning with a hustle double to right field. A failed bunt attempt by Parker Meadows and a pinch-hit strikeout from Kerry Carpenter threatened to strand him on the bag, but second baseman Gleyber Torres came through with the go-ahead RBI single.
The next batter Riley Greene drove Torres in on a monster double to dead-center, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
Designated hitter Jahmai Jones, batting in the leadoff position for the third time this season, sent a solo home run to left-center field to kick off the scoring in the bottom of the third inning. It was Jones’ second home run of the season, the first coming off the first pitch he faced in his Tigers debut on June 7.
Torres followed with a hard-struck double to left field to set up the heart of the order, but the Tigers finished the inning with three consecutive outs and a 1-0 lead.
But the Reds quickly responded in the top of the fourth, starting with an infield single from De La Cruz that landed the speedster on second base on a throwing error from Long. A bloop single to shallow right field from the next batter Tyler Stephenson scored De La Cruz, marking the fifth run the shortstop has scored against the Tigers during the series (and later scoring a sixth run in the eighth inning and a seventh in the ninth).
Stephenson advanced to second on a wild pitch, to third on a fielding error from Báez at shortstop and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Connor Joe. It was an uncharacteristically poor defensive game for Báez, who also flubbed a ground ball in the third inning on a Santiago Espinal base hit that could have easily been called an error.
But just as easily as the Tigers defense fell through in the fourth, it prevented further damage with an inning-ending strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out play, with second baseman Gavin Lux striking out and first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand thrown out attempting to steal second base.
Wenceel Pérez, who notched a double earlier in the second inning, brought the score even in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run, his fourth of the season. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
Left-handed pitcher Tyler Holton made his third start of the season in the opener role, pitching a clean first inning and giving way to bulk reliever Sawyer Gipson-Long in the second inning. It was Long’s third appearance of the season and second straight in a bulk role.
He finished with two runs allowed (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts over three innings pitched.
Right-hander Chase Lee followed with two innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and walking one batter in his appearance.
Detroit is down to three healthy starters who began the season on the team’s rotation: Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. The team announced on June 11 that rookie starter Jackson Jobe would be getting season-ending Tommy John surgery, though it expects to get starter Reese Olson back by July 14.
That has forced the team to play more modified bullpen games, with pitchers Keider Montero and Gipson-Long recently getting appearances in bulk roles. The strategy helped keep the Tigers in the lead on Sunday until the eighth inning meltdown from Vest.
The Tigers defense didn’t always support their pitching on Sunday, however, with three errors in the game and the key bobble from McKinstry in the seventh.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
