LOS ANGELES — Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez raised his arms in the air Saturday night and pounded his chest. He begged the 52,613 fans at a sold-out Dodger Stadium to continue conveying their distaste.
“It’s been like that,” Báez said.
The 29-year-old likes to have fun when he plays baseball. Basking in the competition is second to winning on his list of priorities, and the Los Angeles Dodgers was no different.
The crowd taunted Báez, booing him before, during and after each plate appearance.
“He thrives on environments like this,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, following Saturday’s 5-1 win to snap a six-game losing streak. “They boo him from the onset, and he comes up big. He reminds the fans when he does well. He’s an electrifying player, obviously, and played very well tonight.”
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Reliever Michael Fulmer agreed with Hinch’s assessment.
Báez focused his attention on the fans after tying the game, 1-1, in the third inning with a two-strike, two-out RBI single off Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw’s fourth-pitch slider.
“I think he thrives in roles like that,” said Fulmer, who recorded five outs on eight pitches in the seventh and eighth innings and has tossed 22⅓ consecutive scoreless frames. “He loves being that guy, and I’m glad he’s on our team, trust me.”
Catcher Tucker Barnhart enjoyed watching Báez’s respond to the fans.
He thinks those actions sparked the Tigers’ offense.
“He makes the game fun,” Barnhart said. “He plays hard. He loves it. He embraces it. It gives us another gear as a group to see a guy embrace it like that and enjoy the moment. It gives you a little bit of extra energy that maybe you didn’t think was there.”
The group scored its five runs on 10 hits and three walks. Austin Meadows finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Báez went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, including a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning. Meadows, Báez and Jeimer Candelario paced the Tigers with multi-hit performances.
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Báez isn’t sure why Dodgers fans dislike him.
It has been happening since the 2016 National League Championship Series, when Báez’s Chicago Cubs beat the Dodgers in Game 6 to advance to the World Series.
“That’s my guess,” Báez said. “I can’t really tell. I just laugh about it. When I have success, I let them know.”
Báez hit .318 (7-for-22) with four doubles and five RBIs in those six games, boasting an .833 on-base-plus-slugging performance. He earned NLCS co-MVP with starting pitcher Jon Lester.
The Cubs went on to win the World Series over Cleveland.
“I just compete against them and make it fun,” Báez said. “Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes they get angry. But it’s just competing. … There’s so many Latins here, and their communication is really good. Sometimes they see me outside and take pictures. It’s really fun to compete. That’s what it’s all about.”
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Báez collected his second hit of the game in the seventh. He shot a two-out RBI double down the right-field line and into the corner off reliever Phillip Evans to put the Tigers ahead 2-1.
Meadows extended the lead with a two-run single.
After Báez’s clutch hit, he stood on second base and gestured the hand heart to Dodgers fans.
His teammates roared from the dugout, as the Tigers took the lead for the first time since Báez’s three-run home run in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s excruciating 5-4 loss against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
In that moment, Báez felt the team’s energy spike.
“For sure,” Báez said. “Even this past week, the communication here has been really good. Everybody’s positive, and we stick around each other. It’s been pretty good.”
This time, the Tigers didn’t waste Báez’s heroics.
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“We played a really clean game tonight,” Barnhart said. “I think that’s huge for us. It’s obviously huge to get the losing streak out of the way. It puts us in a position to win a series against one of the best teams in the league. That’s all you can ask for.”
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.