Casey Mize rewarded his manager’s faith in him again. His quality outing went unrewarded for a second consecutive start, but he got the reward of a much-needed end to the Tigers’ losing streak.
As a replay review resulted in a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth inning on Christian Arroyo’s hit-by-pitch, A.J. Hinch made no step out of the dugout. Despite a predicament partly self-inflicted by a leadoff walk and the two-out hit-by-pitch, Mize got the chance to work his way out of it, much like he earned the chance to work a sixth inning last week after giving up a go-ahead rally and a leadoff double. Mize needed only one pitch to escape, jamming Hunter Renfroe into an inning-ending groundout to third.
Mize’s six innings of one-run ball went for a no-decision, but the former top overall Draft pick kept the Tigers in a close game before Jeimer Candelario’s three-run homer in the 10th inning powered Detroit to a 6-5 win. Candelario’s third home run of the season helped end the Tigers’ six-game losing streak with their third win in their last 19 games.
Mize’s final inning, meanwhile, was another stage in his development as he works his way into a level of trust in the Detroit rotation.
Mize found himself in a pitching duel on the road for the second time in seven days, this time opposite Red Sox lefty Martín Pérez. Again, a bout of back-to-back walks came back to haunt. Consecutive second-inning passes to Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vázquez led to a run without a base hit. But also like last week’s outing against the White Sox, Mize kept an imposing lineup from big hits and big innings.
None of Boston’s three hits off Mize went for extra bases. The Red Sox hit four balls off Mize with greater than a 100 mph exit velocity, but two went for groundouts, another for an infield single.