Improbable comeback by the Detroit Tigers in the 9th inning gives them a 4-3 victory over the Padres
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The Detroit Tigers were facing their final blow.
Parker Meadows stood at the plate with the bases loaded, three balls, two strikes and two outs against San Diego Padres right-handed reliever Robert Suarez. Meadows, a left-hander, hit a 100.7 mph, steeply up-and-away fastball and hit the ball the opposite way for a grand slam into left field.
Meadows’ decisive swing at the start of the ninth inning accounted for all four runs for the Tigers, who beat the Padres 4-3 in the finale of the three-game series at Petco Park on Thursday, thus avoiding a sweep.
“A lot of things have to happen for us to do this,” manager AJ Hinch told reporters in San Diego, “and then Parker hits a ball in the air and hits a four-run home run. That’s just as cool a moment for him as it is for us in a big game. Unbelievable win.”
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The Tigers (71-70) are five games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League with 21 games remaining. (The Seattle Mariners are also five games back in the race, with the Boston Red Sox a half-game behind them.)
“It’s always nice, but it’s not always perfect,” Hinch said. “We’ll play the 27 outs, and more if we need to, with extra innings. There’s a lot of competitive spirit in this group. There’s a lot of desire to be good and to close these games out. If we get rewarded for that with a lot of good at-bats, that’s great. I think our guys have learned that if you keep trying to string together good at-bats, you never lose your momentum. We didn’t do that early on, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it later.”
Before Meadows became a hero, the Tigers had to lay the foundation for his big hit with quality performances against one of the best relievers in baseball. A single by Justyn-Henry Malloy, a walk by pinch-hitter Jace Jung and a walk by Colt Keith loaded the bases.
Between the walks, Spencer Torkelson made the first out. Kerry Carpenter then struck out with a swing and made the second out. Then Meadows saved the Tigers with his slam.
It was his sixth home run in 61 games.
Meadows received six fastballs in a row from Suarez: 101.5 mph (ball), 101.4 mph (swinging strike), 101.9 mph (ball), 101.1 mph (ball), 100.2 mph (foul) and 100.7 mph (in play). He hit all three fastballs inside the strike zone while refusing to chase three heaters outside.
The Tigers have a 39-22 record in games played by Meadows.
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Casey Mize on the hill
The Padres scored all three runs in the first and second innings with home runs against right-hander Casey Mize. He allowed a lot of hard contact in his 5⅓ innings and mitigated the problem by getting out of sticky situations in the later innings.
In the first inning, Jurickson Profar hit a middle-up fastball to right field with two outs and a full count, hitting a solo home run for his 22nd home run in his 139th game to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
The Padres extended their lead to 3-0 in the second inning thanks to a two-run home run by Xander Bogaerts – just his eighth home run in 92 games this season. Mize hit a slider high and in to Bogaerts, who spun on the pitch and drove the ball into left field.
Mize allowed three runs on six hits and one walk, with two strikeouts in 5⅓ innings and threw 83 pitches. The 27-year-old has accounted for three earned runs in each of two consecutive starts since returning from a two-month injured list.
He has an ERA of 4.30 in 18 starts.
To Meadows
The Tigers called on left-handed reliever Tyler Holton to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning, and he had an All-Star-worthy first outing with Manny Machado.
Machado, a six-time All-Star, was forced out to Holton on a groundout.
With two outs, Bogaerts hit a single up the middle to keep the game alive for the Padres, but Holton didn’t flinch. He used a sweeper on the second pitch to force a flyout against Jackson Merrill, a dangerous left-hander, to end the game.
It was Holton’s eighth save in eight chances.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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