DETROIT — Wily Peralta labored through a 29-pitch first inning Sunday that seemed to last forever, the right-hander taking his time. He used 100 pitches for just 4 2/3 innings, yet lasted that long because he never broke down and gave up a big inning. Even in his struggles, he gave the Tigers a chance, which they nearly converted.
In that sense, Sunday’s 2-1 Tigers loss was a microcosm of Peralta’s season, a campaign that looked like it might never happen after he missed all of Spring Training due to travel issues and COVID protocols. Yet his penultimate start of the 2021 season also presented both sides of the debate the Tigers face in whether or not to bring him back for another year.
Peralta gave up eight hits Sunday, including three with exit velocities over 104 miles per hour according to Statcast. He endured because none of those hits went for more than a double. He left with two runs allowed instead of four in part because Salvador Perez’s fourth-inning drive to center — a ball with a .770 expected batting average — went for a 397-foot out rather than a two-run homer or RBI double.
Not since Spencer Turnbull on Sept. 1, 2019, had a Tiger thrown 100 pitches in a start without completing five innings. No Tiger had done so while allowing two runs or less since Jeremy Bonderman on April 24, 2008.