After an extremely frustrating loss to the Rockies with Tarik Skubal on the mound on Thursday afternoon, the Tigers needed to get back on track and begin a new winning streak on Friday evening. That’s exactly what they ended up doing while flirting with Major League Baseball history.
Kerry Carpenter Powers Up
Kerry Carpenter drives one out to give the @Tigers an early lead in the Motor City. 💪 pic.twitter.com/RTPazCpXA1
— MLB (@MLB) September 13, 2024
After Beau Brieske worked a scoreless top half of the first inning, the Tigers got to work in the home half of the frame. Kerry Carpenter tagged Orioles’ right-hander Zach Eflin for a 414-foot (109.6-mph EV) solo shot that gave the Tigers an early 1-0 advantage.
That would wind up being the extent of their offense in the game though as the Tigers’ offense mustered only six total hits in the contest. Parker Meadows collected two of those – including a two-out triple into the right field corner in the eighth inning.
Perfection?
Brieske returned for the second inning, where he got Adley Rutschman to ground out to first base before turning the ball over to bulk reliever Brant Hurter. The 26-year-old southpaw delivered the finest start of his young career, racking up eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He retired each of the first 17 hitters that he faced, carrying a combined perfect game effort into the eighth inning.
There have only been 24 perfect games in the history of Major League Baseball. There had never been a combined perfect game. Could the Tigers’ bullpen make history on Friday night? Hurter started the eighth inning with an eight-pitch battle against Rutschman. After he fouled off a pair of tough full-count offerings, he was able to lay off a sweeper out of the zone to draw a walk and break up the perfect game bid.
The no-hitter was still intact though. Brennan Hanifee took over for Hurter and retired each of the next three hitters to get through the eighth inning.
The Tigers then turned to bullpen ace Tyler Holton to try to close it out. In their 124-year history, the Tigers have recorded a total of nine no-hitters – the most recent being a combined effort from Matt Manning, Jason Foley, and Alex Lange in 2023.
Holton got Emmanuel Rivera on a fly ball to right field to start the inning then struck out rookie infielder Coby Mayo for the second out. Just one out away from etching their names in the history books though, Gunnar Henderson jumped on the first pitch that he saw from Holton and laced a triple into the right-field corner.
Not only were the Tigers not going to make history on Friday night, but their much-needed victory was now in jeopardy as well as they were clinging to a one-run advantage. Fortunately, Holton was able to get the job done, punching out Anthony Santander to notch his eighth save of the season.
News and Notes
With the victory, the Tigers move to four games over the .500 mark at 76-72. With the Twins falling to the Reds in Minnesota, they are now just 2.5 games back in the race for the final Wild Card berth in the American League.
They have a tall task ahead of them on Saturday though, as they’re scheduled to take on Orioles’ ace Corbin Burnes. The Tigers have yet to announce their starter for Saturday’s contest, though it seems likely that Ty Madden will be called upon as a bulk reliever behind an opener.
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