The Tigers needed a big win to lift their spirits and did so in dramatic fashion against the Diamondbacks last night. The Tigers started their first of three games against the Diamondbacks Friday night and were able to shutout the D-Backs, while also putting up an unlucky number of runs in the form of 13.
The Tiger’s hitting and pitching were operating on all cylinders as they scored 13 runs on 17 hits and the pitching only gave up a measly 3 hits to the Diamondback’s hitters. As a Tigers fan, seeing them come back strong like this was nice to see.
Three Shutouts In A Row
After an embarrassing series against the Miami Marlins where the Tigers were shutout in back-to-back games, they desperately needed a win and they sure as heck got one by shutting out the Diamondbacks on Friday. That’s three shutouts in three straight games the Tigers have played in. While I’d love to say playing in three straight shutouts is some kind of team record that record already belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In June of 1903 the Pittsburgh Pirates played in six straight games where they never gave up a single run equating to 51 innings of shutout baseball for them. While losing two out of the three shutouts Detroit played in this week was depressing to see as a Tigers fan, it’s still an interesting thing to see.
Tigers/Diamondbacks Hitting
Tiger’s hitters feasted on the D-Back’s pitching Friday night getting 17 hits and plating 13 runners altogether. They also got 2 walks too with Torkelson drawing one from a hit-by-pitch. Colt Keith did pretty good going 4-5, with 3 runs, and 2 RBIs all on four singles. Javier Baez went 3-5, crossing the plate once, and getting 5 RBIs for his team with two of his hits being doubles.
Baez has been the subject of anger for Tigers fans the past couple seasons due to how he likes to swing at pitches outside of the zone with some of them being outright in the other batter’s box. Baez is still a pretty good fielder though and I’m sure how he performed tonight as a hitter earned him some goodwill from Tigers fans.
Diamondback’s hitters on the other hand more than likely lost some goodwill with their fans as all they could muster was 3 hits on the night with those hits coming from Ketel Marte, Randal Grichuk, and Jake McCarthy.
Tigers/Diamondbacks Pitching
Tarik Skubal put on a strong showing against the Diamondbacks going 6 innings and only giving up 1 hit which was a double to Randal Grichuk in the bottom of the 5th inning. While I would have preferred A.J. Hinch let him keep dealing like he was, the Tigers had just had a day of rest so allowing a couple bullpen guys to get work in with a 11-0 lead is a decision I won’t argue against. Skubal currently leads the league in FIP at 1.94 and WHIP at 0.782. He also picked up his 7th Quality Start of the season too against the Arizona Danger Noodles.
Bullpen arms Will Vest and Joey Wentz also pitched well with Vest pitching a scoreless inning and notching a strikeout under his belt with Wentz pitching two solid innings and giving up two hits and getting two strikeouts.
Diamondbacks pitching wasn’t as dominant though as Arizona’s starting pitcher Ryne Nelson only pitched four innings and gave up 8 earned runs. Matt Bowman got the ball in the fifth inning and gave up 5 earned runs to the Tiger’s offense with Logan Allen being the only decent pitcher for the D-Backs that night. Allen went three innings and gave up 0 hits while also getting 4 strikeouts.
About the Author
Shawn Simpson has been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since he was a kid and also a video game fan. You can check out his other work here. Make sure to check out all the great content that Total Apex Sports has to offer. Be sure to check us out on X @TotalApexSports, as well as our other sites, such as Total Apex Sports Bets and Total Apex Fantasy Sports.
