BALTIMORE — In the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s matchup with the Orioles, Tigers left fielder Akil Baddoo and center fielder Derek Hill collided while working to catch a fly ball to left-center field. For a few moments, Camden Yards was silent as the two outfielders remained on the ground. Detroit’s training staff came out to meet them, escorting them both off the field under their own power.
It was a scary moment in the Tigers’ 9-4 win, with both players running towards each other at a Statcast-projected 28 feet per second — just under what is considered an elite sprint speed at 30 feet per second.
Manager A.J. Hinch moved Niko Goodrum, who was starting at shortstop in his first game back from the IL, to center field and shifted catcher Eric Haase to left field. Grayson Greiner came in to catch, while Harold Castro took over at shortstop. The Tigers had a four-run lead at the time of the injury, thanks to a couple of big innings early on.
After failing to record a hit in his last two games, an RBI double from Willi Castro got things started in the top of the second inning. The next batter, Baddoo, knocked his sixth triple of the season — putting the Tigers up by two.
Though still chasing his 500th career home run, Miguel Cabrera smacked a single in the third inning and scored a run, leaving him just five shy of 1,500 career runs.
Castro’s two-run triple in the third, along with Jonathan Schoop’s RBI double and Goodrum’s RBI single, rounded out the four-run inning, giving Detroit some much-needed insurance runs.