Cleveland – Jake Rogers was lying face down on his plate. If this was a crime scene he would have been outlined in chalk.
In a sense it was a crime scene.
Special offer:Get this low price and 6 benefits with a News subscription
The Tigers’ catcher somehow turned a 261-footer into a shallow pitch into a minor-league, walk-off homer that helped start an 8-2 victory over The Cleveland Cavaliers lead the Central Division for the first time. fourth at Progressive Field Monday night.
“It was great,” said Tigers’ All-Star shortstop Tarik Skubal, who improved to 11-3 and lowered his ERA to an American League-best 2.34 in three innings. seven. “For him to be safe was even better. And now the starfish is on the plate. It’s amazing.”
Rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the Tigers and drove in a two-run home run in the first inning off right-hander Carlos Carrasco. It was his seventh homer, this fourth month.
Rogers then came to bat with Wenceel Perez on third and two outs in the second. Center fielder Angel Martinez tried to dive to catch his easy sinking line. The ball came close to him, once he ran down, he slipped and fell and had to push the ball to right winger Jhonkensy Noel.
“I knew it was going to be three times because his back was turned,” Rogers said. “I was digging and I looked up and Joey still had the nuts.”
Third base coach Joey Cora wasn’t going to let Rogers stop at third base. Noel put the ball in early and Brayan Rocchio threw the ball hard. The ball hit Rogers, but somehow, head sliding forward, arms outstretched, he escaped the tag.
“I was giving it my all,” Rogers said. “I was ‘sliding,’ as the boys like to call it when I ran. As soon as I slipped, I knew I was safe. I didn’t feel him touch me. When they checked it, I worry a little. I was sure I got the points.
The guards challenged the safe line, but it was backed up. The picture of Rogers lying on the floor at the plate was very important.
“I told the coaches we need an oxygen mask for him,” Skubal said. “He went down the tunnel and I had a fan on him. I said, ‘Brother, you’ve got to breathe.’
The play scored three points and a foul was called on Martinez, which Rogers contested.
“It is necessary to make that appeal,” he said. “I didn’t see the play but I asked and I think (Martinez) went down and the right fielder threw it. I don’t know if going down is a foul. It’s a homer to me .
What was important, however, was that the Tigers had beaten Skubal to take the lead four times.
“To score four runs in the first two innings, I can go good on the guys,” Skubal said. “Just try to keep the ball in the yard. It’s hard to get a lot of runs to the other end.”
Skubal, though he had to shake off the rust after not starting since July 12 and giving up 10 hits, never let the Rangers into the game. .
“It’s a good team,” Skubal said. “They’ve got 59 wins for a reason. They don’t hit much. They put the ball in play and make things happen when they get guys in the scoring position. It was my job to try to get them to hit. sometimes I think I did a good job at that.”
BOX SCORE: Tigers 8, Guardians 2
Going seven innings was crucial as the Tigers used the bullpen Tuesday and Thursday in the series.
“They had a good plan against him, first through nine,” Rogers said. “They really did. But even when you have a good plan, it’s hard to put a lot of songs together and Skub did a really good job of getting the dialogue right and double playing when he needed to.” .”
The guards seemed to be sitting on Skubal’s changes in certain situations. He got seven whiffs in 14 swings as well, but they also had an exit velocity of 92 mph in six innings.
“They were going to take what they gave him,” manager AJ Hinch said. “If you look at the strikes that Tyler Freeman was getting (three of them), they hit (Jose) Ramirez, to the middle and to the right, they committed to not pulling the ball and they let him use his change.
“That was as good a performance against Tarik as I’ve seen this year.”
Skubal struck out six, fewer than usual, and missed 15 of 54 times, fewer than usual. But he won big at-bats. He pitched a 1-4-3 inning to end the third, stranding two runners. He struck out Kwan to make it two in the fourth. He homered in the first inning by Martinez in the fifth, striking out Jose Ramirez with a triple.
The one run was scored on a two-out, two-out swing by catcher Austin Hedges in a rough second inning that cost Skubal 28 pitches. But, even in that inning, he was able to battle through a 2-0 hole against Steven Kwan and get him out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
“I took a risk and for him to come out, I felt like I got stronger from that point on and I was able to cut them down to one run,” Skubal said. “But it was exhausting. Ten strikes. I felt like every inning I was working out of time. But that’s where the most important pitches are made, except stretching.”
Matt Vierling (double) and Mark Canha each had three hits. Canha and Perez (two hits) hit back-to-back doubles to score a run and chase down Carrasco in the sixth. Perez, who advanced to third on a throw to the plate, scored the sixth run on a two-out sacrifice fly by Gio Urshela.
Rookie Colt Keith, who hit a three-run ball with nothing to show for it, tied his 10th game of the season in the ninth.
The Tigers (50-51) have taken four of their last five against the Rangers. They also have the best record in baseball in July (12-5).
“This is team baseball,” Skubal said. “We do it all, we play good defense, we get offense at the right time and we hit well. It speaks to the guys in this room. It’s a lot of guys who buy into winning every day.’ And we look forward to doing it again tomorrow.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
#Jake #Rogers #insane #streak #highlighted #Detroit #Tigers #beat #Cleveland #Guardians
