CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers traveled Tuesday to BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida, for a noon scrimmage against the Philadelphia Phillies as part of minor-league minicamp.
The Tigers were managed by Double-A Erie skipper Gabe Alvarez. He was accompanied by bench coach/third base coach Tony Cappuccili, hitting coach Max Gordon, pitching coach Dan Ricabal, bullpen coach Dean Stiles and first base coach Ollie Kadey.
Tuesday’s matchup was scheduled for 10 innings.
Right-hander Beau Brieske started for the Tigers.
MIZE EYES NEW ROLE: Why Tigers’ Casey Mize is ‘definitely interested’ in becoming MLBPA player rep
LABOR TALKS: Tigers union rep Tucker Barnhart: Not trying to ‘make everybody pay every dollar’
The 23-year-old posted a 3.12 ERA with 23 walks and 116 strikeouts over 106⅔ innings in 21 starts last season. He pitched 13 games for High-A West Michigan and eight games for Erie.
The Tigers’ starting lineup: Parker Meadows (LF), Ryan Kreidler (SS), Riley Greene (CF), Spencer Torkelson (1B), Dillon Dingler (C), Izaac Pacheco (3B), Jack Lopez (2B), Jacob Robson (DH) and Eric De La Rosa (RF).
For the Phillies, 29-year-old right-hander Michael Kelly started on the mound. He had a 2.82 ERA with 17 walks and 53 strikeouts across 44⅔ innings in 35 relief appearances for Triple-A Sugar Land with the Houston Astros last season.
Philadelphia’s starting lineup: Johan Rojas (CF), Bryson Stott (SS), Logan O’Hoppe (C), Matt Kroon (RF), Ethan Wilson (LF), Madison Stokes (3B), Wendell Rijo (2B), Jonathan Guzman (DH).
Observations highlights
First inning
TOP (TIGERS): Meadows and Kreidler opened with groundouts to first base and third base, respectively. Greene worked ahead 3-1 in the count. He fouled Kelly’s fifth pitch down the first-base line before striking out on a checked swing.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): With Brieske — the Tigers’ most advanced pitcher in minicamp — on the mound, Rojas opened the Phillies’ inning with a single up the middle on a 1-0 pitch. Brieske responded by striking out Stott swinging on three pitches, beating him with an elevated fastball for the third strike. (Stott is the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.) He kept the momentum against O’Hoppe, getting ahead 0-2. But O’Hoppe ended up cranking a 2-2 fastball over Greene’s head in center field for an RBI double. Brieske retired the next two batters, Hall (flyout) and Kroon (strikeout looking), to strand O’Hoppe on second base. Brieske threw 16 pitches, 12 for strikes.
SCORE: Tigers 0, Phillies 1.
“The only part of my outing that I was frustrated with was that double,” Brieske said. “It was a 2-2 count because I didn’t execute my first two put-away tries with a slider and a changeup. We went fastball up, and a guy was stealing. I heard, ‘Step off,’ and I didn’t throw the pitch with full intent. I just left it over the plate, as well. If I could have changed that, I would have thrown that pitch with more intent.”
Second inning
TOP (TIGERS): Right-hander Andrew Bellatti, who pitched three games for the Miami Marlins last season, came out of the bullpen for the Phillies. He made easy work of the Tigers: Torkelson grounded out to shortstop, Dingler popped out to shortstop and Pacheco struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Brieske sent down the Phillies in order. He struck out Wilson swinging on six pitches, Stokes looking on three pitches and Rijo swinging on five pitches. In a 2-2 count against Rijo, Brieske turned to his elevated fastball. The right-hander finished his outing with 30 pitches (22 strikes) and five strikeouts. He showed his confidence in all four pitches: fastball, slider, curveball and changeup.
SCORE: Tigers 0, Phillies 1.
“I felt like settling into the second inning was good,” Brieske said. “I felt like I established my fastball pretty well, mixed it up a little bit, found my rhythm and found my mechanics. … I think I did a good job of setting it up with sequences and locations with my fastball or using off-speed to get them off the timing, and then going up (in the strike zone) with (my fastball), which is where my fastball gets swings and misses. I also got a few freezes on sliders because I established the inside corner.”
Third inning
TOP (TIGERS): Left-hander Kyle Dohy took over the Phillies and immediately fell apart. He walked Lopez and Robson out of the gate, then De La Rosa belted a home run over the left-field wall to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Meadows reached safely on a hit-by-pitch and kept Dohy uncomfortable by stealing second base. Kreidler continued the Tigers’ efforts with an RBI single up the middle. The teams decided to roll the inning over after Dohy threw 25-plus pitches without recording an out.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Right-hander Logan Shore replaced Brieske. Guzman grounded out, but Rojas — the Phillies’ No. 6 prospect — drew a walk and stole second and third base. Shore punched out Stott looking for his second out. Then, O’Hoppe launched a line-drive home run to left field. During the at-bat, Shore fell behind 3-0 but battled back for a 3-2 count. After the two-run homer, the inning rolled over due to Shore’s pitch count (20).
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 3.
Fourth inning
TOP (TIGERS): Right-hander Tyler Cyr, a 28-year-old, pitched for the Phillies and overpowered the Tigers’ best prospects. Greene grounded out to second base; Torkelson grounded out to shortstop; and Dingler struck out swinging. Both Greene and Torkelson fell behind 0-2 in their at-bats.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Shore returned to the mound for the fourth inning and pitched efficiently. He retired the Phillies in order: Hall (strikeout looking), Kroon (flyout to deep center field) and Wilson (strikeout swinging).
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 3.
Fifth inning
TOP (TIGERS): Left-hander Jeff Singer, another 28-year-old, appeared for the Phillies in the fifth inning. Pacheco (groundout to second base) and Lopez (groundout to shortstop) were the first two outs. Robson flied out to shallow left field to end the top of the frame.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Four of the Tigers’ top five prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, competed in the scrimmage: Torkelson, Greene and Dingler and right-hander Ty Madden. Madden, the No. 32 overall pick in the 2021 draft from Texas, entered for the fifth inning. He allowed a leadoff double to Stokes — the ball traveled over the glove of a leaping Pacheco at third base — and walked Rijo to put himself in a jam. Guzman hit a grounder to third base, but the Tigers only cut down the runner advancing to second base. Although Madden picked up his first out, he was left to work with runners on the corners. With Rojas at the plate, new Tigers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo — replacing Dingler — threw out Guzman trying to steal second base. But the throw from Alfonzo allowed the Phillies to easily score a run and tie the game. Madden stuck out Rojas looking to end his inning.
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
Sixth inning
TOP (TIGERS): With right-hander Joe Gatto, a former second-round draft pick, pitching for the Phillies, De La Rosa stayed hot with an opposite field leadoff single over the first baseman’s head. De La Rosa, though, was thrown out trying to steal second base. Meadows walked and stole second base, but his steal occurred as Kreidler struck out swinging. Greene popped out to center field for Gatto’s third and final out.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): As Madden returned to the mound, the Tigers made numerous defensive changes: Andre Lipcius at third base, Cristian Santana at shortstop, Luis Carpio at second base, Jose De La Cruz in left field, Roberto Campos in center field and Daniel Cabrera in right field. (Torkelson remained in the game at first base.) Madden continued to struggle with his control, walking three consecutive batters — Stott, O’Hoppe and Hall — to begin his second frame. After Madden walked the bases loaded, the inning ended due to his pitch count. He threw 38 pitches (16 strikes) in two innings, recording three outs total.
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
Seventh inning
TOP (TIGERS): Torkelson, for the third time in three at-bats, put himself behind 0-2 in the count. He grounded out to second base for the first out, with Phillies left-hander Zach Warren on the mound. Alfonzo and Lipcius, in their first plate appearances, drew walks. With Carpio at the plate in a 2-2 count, the Tigers tried to advance both runners via stolen base. Alfonzo was eliminated at third base, and Carpio went down swinging on the next pitch for the third out.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Right-hander Will Vest, who pitched for the Seattle Mariners last season, entered for the Tigers. The Phillies, meanwhile, made numerous lineup changes. Vest struck out Nicolas Torres to begin his outing. He walked Jordan Viars and Kendall Simmons before blowing away Erick Brito with a fastball for a swinging strikeout. Guzman popped out in the infield, and Vest escaped damage.
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
Eighth inning
TOP (TIGERS): Colt Keith replaced Robson as the designated hitter and led off against Phillies right-hander Nick Duron. Keith struck out swinging, followed by Cabrera’s broken-bat groundout to second base. De La Cruz singled to center field and moved into scoring position when Duron’s pickoff attempt resulted in a throwing error. But Santana struck out looking on the seventh pitch of his at-bat to end the inning.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): Right-hander Nick Kuzia entered for the Tigers, as did first baseman Josh Lester (replacing Torkelson) and catcher Cooper Johnson (replacing Alfonzo). Kuzia struck out Yhoswar Garcia and Vito Friscia, but the 26-year-old let three batters reach safely: Alexeis Azuaje (walk), Randy Vazquez (walk) and Torres (hit-by-pitch). Viars popped out to Lipcius in foul territory with the bases loaded for the third out.
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
Ninth inning
TOP (TIGERS): A one-out double from Lester — after Campos struck out looking on three pitches — put the Tigers in scoring position. Facing Phillies left-hander Braeden Ogle, Johnson made contact and sent the ball to shallow right-center field, but the left fielder made a diving catch. Lipcius grounded out to third base, ending the scoring opportunity.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): The Tigers handed the ninth inning to right-hander Luis Castillo, a 26-year-old who pitched for Triple-A Reno in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization last season. He worked around an infield single from Guzman, sending down Simmons (groundout), Brito (strikeout looking) and Garcia (flyout).
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
10th inning
TOP (TIGERS): Right-hander Matt Seelinger took over on the mound for the Phillies. He walked Carpio, who advanced to second base on Seelinger’s throwing error during a pickoff attempt. Keith pushed Carpio to third base with a groundout to second. Seelinger escaped his one-out jam by striking out Cabrera and De La Cruz swinging.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): RJ Petit, a 6-foot-8, 280-pound righty, was the final pitcher used by the Tigers. He put a runner on base right away, as Azuaje singled (and later stole second base), but recorded back-to-back flyouts against Friscia and Vazquez. Petit wrapped up his appearance by striking out Torres on six pitches.
SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
11th inning
TOP (TIGERS): The Phillies had an extra pitcher — right-hander Brian Marconi — active for the scrimmage, so the game extended into the 11th inning. Santana reached on a fielding error; Campos grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Lester popped out to shortstop.
BOTTOM (PHILLIES): The Tigers only brought enough pitchers for 10 innings, so the game ended in a tie.
FINAL SCORE: Tigers 4, Phillies 4.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.