Now this is the kind of shutout we can get behind! The Tigers beat the Astros 8-0 on Friday night.
After dropping their first game of the series against the Astros, the Tigers were looking to even things up on Friday evening. They had Keider Montero on the mound to get the job done, and he was up against Spencer Arrighetti for the Astros. Montero was sporting a special “VZ” patch on the side of his cap for the game to honor his home country of Venezuela, still reeling after suffering through multiple earthquakes earlier this week.
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Montero got things going with a 1-2-3 inning. If the Tigers took anything away from their Thursday loss, hopefully it would be that they needed to pad a lead, because good pitching goes only so far, and then a few bad luck pitches can overshadow the whole thing. In the bottom of the inning, they did not do that. Instead, they went down in order.
In the second, Christian Walker reached thanks to an error from Kevin McGonigle. He was very quickly removed, however, thanks to a double play off the bat of Jose Altuve. A third out followed to quickly end the inning. Arrighetti had some lengthy at-bats in the bottom of the inning as Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry worked back-to-back walks, but they were both ultimately left stranded.
Montero got through the side in order again in the third. In the home half, James Outman took a leadoff walk. McGonigle then singled, and it was deflected by the first baseman, allowing Outman to advance to third. Dillon Dingler struck out, but then a throwing error by the catcher gave the Tigers the opening they needed to score their first run. McGonigle also stole second. Kerry Carpenter came in and hit a homer, quickly building a nice little lead for the Tigers.
In the fourth, Isaac Paredes got a one-out single, but that was all the Astros would manage. Things broke wide open for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. Colt Keith got things going with a leadoff home run.
Zach McKinstry walked, followed by a Matt Vierling single. Then, Outman hit one outta the park for a three-run shot.
McGonigle walked, and the Astros then dipped into their bullpen, with no outs. Nate Pearson came on, and McGonigle stole second. Dingler then singled a perfect little blooper behind second, scoring another run. It seems fairly clear at this point that the Tigers did, in fact, learn their lesson from last night.
A strikeout and double play ended the inning, but the Tigers were up 8-0 when all was said and done, and Montero was very well rested.
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Jose Altuve hit a leadoff single in the fifth after facing a stadium-wide chorus of boos. Tigers fans certainly know how to hold a grudge. The next play was initially ruled a fielder’s choice with Altuve out at second, but the Tigers challenged the safe call at first and it was overturned, becoming an inning-ending double play. Spencer Torkelson took a leadoff walk in the home half, but was quickly eliminated in a fielder’s choice off the bat of Keith. The Tigers weren’t able to convert their baserunner, though.
In the sixth, Taylor Trammell got a one-out walk. Jeremy Peña then singled, but two outs followed to get the Tigers out of a potential jam. Minor rant… the Tigers should not wear these new orange jerseys against teams whose primary color is orange. It’s visually confusing. In the home half, McGonigle got a one-out walk. Dingler then hit into a double play to end the inning.
It was another single for Altuve in the seventh, this time after the first out of the inning. He got the second out after that. Montero was starting to lose the zone a little at this point, and gave up a double to Yanier Diaz. But he turned it around to get the final out of the inning and end the threat. That would be the end of the game for Montero, who looked good, especially through the early innings. His final line for the game was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, on 96 pitches. After these last starts, I think Montero has more than demonstrated that he belongs in the starting rotation. Pearson was replaced in the home half by Bryan Abreu, who got the Tigers out in order.
Enmanuel De Jesus was the first Tigers’ reliever of the game, and like Montero, he was sporting the VZ on his cap for his home country. He followed right in Montero’s cleats and got the side out in order. Jake Meyers was the new reliever, and he got the Tigers out in order.
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Raynel Delgado took a leadoff walk. With one out, Delgado advanced to second on defensive indifference. De Jesus then got the final two outs of the game to close out the all-Venezuelan shutout.
