Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez put the ball in play with runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth inning.
Good things followed, but not because of Baez’s bat.
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes fouled out on Baez’s goalie clean field. The ball went over him and into left field, allowing them to score two runs.
The Tigers beat the Pirates, 3-2, in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Detroit improved to 8-14, with Game 2 scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
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In the fifth inning, the Tigers had their best chance against the Pittsburgh pitching staff. Left-handed starter Dillon Peters, a starter, gave his team 3⅓ scoreless innings before right-handed reliever Bryse Wilson filled in for him for the next 3⅔ innings.
Jeimer Candelario doubled to start the fifth and Willi Castro reached base safely on a fielding error by shortstop Cole Tucker. Akil Baddoo was then given a four-pitch walk with one out.
Candelario’s double, his fourth this season, was the Tigers’ second hit of the game and first since Castro’s second-inning single.
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Off Wilson, Robbie Grossman produced a sacrifice fly, the Tigers’ only RBI in Game 1, to cut the deficit to 2-1. As Candelario scored, both Baddoo and Castro got together and advanced to second and third base, respectively, with two outs.
Three pitches later, Baez’s dribbler to third base bounced off Reynolds’ glove.
The Tigers finished with three runs on three hits and two walks.
Bad luck for Pineda
Right-hander Michael Pineda was charged with two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. However, both runs scored with the 33-year-old on the bench.
Back-to-back one-out singles by Cole Tucker and Andrew Knapp dogged Pineda, with manager AJ Hinch calling up right-handed reliever Alex Lange to face left-handed hitter Ben Gamel with runners at the corners.
Gamel hit Lange’s fifth-pitch fastball into right-center field and sped to finish third, with both runners scoring.
Pineda, making his third start this season, needed 44 pitches to complete the first and second innings. He entered Wednesday’s outing without having allowed a walk in 10 innings. But he walked two batters in the first two innings against the Pirates.
The nine-year MLB veteran, with a 5.3% career walk rate, settled in during the third and fourth innings. Still, his efficiency faltered at times, throwing 17 pitches in the third, 14 pitches in the fourth and 10 pitches in his one-out fifth.
Baez helped Pineda’s effort by giving up a couple of defensive gems. In the third inning, he spun the ball without looking between his legs for a force out at second. An inning later, he completed a backhand sliding stop in shallow center field and took out the runner at first base.
The Tigers’ defense changed for both highlights.
For his 85 pitches (52 strikes), Pineda used 51 four-seam fastballs (60%), 20 changeups (24%) and 14 sliders (16%). He recorded eight swings and misses: three fastballs, four changeups and one slider. He also had 17 called strikes, 16 on his fastball.
Pineda averaged 90.3 mph on his fastball.
Bullpen gets to work
Lange escaped the fifth without further damage, and once the Tigers took a one-run lead in the bottom of the inning, Hinch turned to a familiar group of relievers for the final 12 outs.
Right-hander Jacob Barnes pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Left-hander Andrew Chafin (seventh), right-hander Michael Fulmer (eight) and left-hander Gregory Soto (ninth) also shut out the Pirates in the final three innings to complete the win.
The Tigers boast the best bullpen ERA in the MLB — he opened Wednesday at 1.97 and dropped to 1.87 with 4⅔ innings against the Pirates — and Fulmer has pitched 22⅓ scoreless innings since 2021. Chafin, who did not join the Tigers through April 26, pitched a win for the first time this season.
Soto has four saves in 2022.
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