Detroit – The Tigers cried Wolfie. And Wolfie called game.
Nick Maton got the green light on 3-0, got the fastball he was looking for, and didn’t miss it, launching a two-out, walk-off home run into the warm April night as the Tigers stunned the San Francisco Giants, 7-5, on Friday at Comerica Park.
The Tigers were down to their final out, against a really good, hard-throwing reliever in Giants right-hander Camilo Doval, who had just struck out Jake Rogers and Matt Vierling with overpowering stuff. Then Maton stepped in, got ahead 3-0 − and let it fly for his first walk-off homer as a major-leaguer, his second walk-off hit as a major-leaguer, and by far his biggest moment in his young career as a Tiger.
The blast over the old wall in right-center sent off a raucous celebration at home − as the Tigers’ new LED lights put on a colorful and festive show for those who remained of the crowd of 15,289 − as well as wolf calls in the jubilant postgame locker room. Maton’s nickname is “Wolfie,” we guess, because he likes wolves.
“It feels good,” Maton said. “We grinded that whole game, and to come out on top was big.
“We’re not going to roll over. We’re going to keep on pushing.”
BOX SCORE: Tigers 7, Giants 5 (11)
The win was the second in a row for the Tigers, who improved to 4-9 − their entire season defined by steaks: lose three, win two, lose six, win two.
Maton didn’t even start the game, but came in as a pinch-hitter for third baseman Tyler Nevin and went 0-for-2 with a walk before his biggest moment.
The Tigers had Ryan Kreidler on second base as the courtesy runner to start the 11th inning, and Zach McKinstry drilled a groundball to the right sice, but Giants second baseman David Villar opted to try for the out at third. Kreidler was easily safe, giving the Tigers two on and nobody out.
That was huge for the Tigers, because it made it a good possibility the Tigers would get to their left-handed hitter, Maton, which is key against Doval (0-2).
He struck out Rogers and Vierling, but Maton − who had to do a double-take at third-base coach Gary Jones, to make sure the green light was on 3-0 − struck back.
“It was incredible. The range of emotions in that game covered them all,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “Maton gets in a hitter’s count, there’s no way you’re taking the bat away from him and not letting him swing, and he did his part.
“He gets his ‘A’ swing off a lot, and he knows that he’s looking for.”
It was Maton’s third homer as a Tiger, and easily the biggest.
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The Giants had just gone ahead in the top of the 11th, on an RBI single from Brandon Crawford off Jose Cisnero (1-0) − but excellent defensive plays, including a diving catch by Vierling in right and an over-the-shoulder catch by McKinstry at second, saved it from being more.
Neither team scored in the 10th.
The Tigers had this game in control early on, leading, 4-1, before the bullpen faltered in the eighth inning. Garrett Hill came on to start the eighth and walked the leadoff hitter, then gave up a one-out single. Hinch went to Mason Englert, who on the first pitch he threw gave up a tying home run to J.D. Davis.
With the Tigers short-handed out of the bullpen because over overuse in Toronto, Englert stayed out there for 2.2 innings − and rebounded nicely, putting up zeroes the rest of the way, including a two-strikeout 10th. Englert also worked around a two-out error by Eric Haase in left in the ninth, when he dropped a routine flyball to extend the inning. (The next ball, too, was routine right to Haase, and the crowd let out a huge Bronx cheer when he caught it.)
“We can’t forget this kid is learning a lot at this level,” Hinch said of Englert, a Rule 5 pick.
“But to come back and put up outs, I thought, was the real key to the game.”
It ended up being the key to the game, because the Giants came back.
But early on, the story was Tigers starter Joey Wentz, who’s had his battles with the strike zone over the years − but he commanded it Friday night like perhaps never before. He struck out a career-high seven, and, amazingly, got ahead 0-2 on each of the first nine Giants batters he faced.
One of those batters was leadoff hitter Thairo Estrada, who eventually homered on the eighth pitch, but that was all the major damage done against Wentz. He gave up base runners each inning, but never seemed stressed, even in the fourth, when the first two Giants reached. But he got a flyout, strikeout and groundout, and that was that.
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He went 5.2 innings, allowing six hits. He threw 94 pitches, and 64 were strikes.
He didn’t walk a batter until there was one out in the sixth. Then, the next batter, Darin Ruf, hit a long flyball to left that was caught − but nonetheless, Hinch jumped out of the dugout and called it a night for Wentz, making way for a pretty-sharp Tyler Alexander.
“Joey Wentz did it all,” Hinch said. “I don’t know if he was at this best from a stuff standpoint, but he was at his best from a strike-throwing standpoint. … He continued to pound the strike zone, and that’s how you stay in the game and continue to record outs, is challenge them.
“He didn’t blink, he kept throwing strikes.”
Said Wentz: “It was good to pitch ahead. That was a pretty big focus after the last one.”
As for where he was when Maton hit his home run? The training room.
“We were losing it,” Wentz said.
Before Maton’s big blast, the story of the night offensively for the Tigers was Javier Báez, who bounced back from an embarrassingly public benching in Thursday’s series finale in Toronto. He started Friday, and batted cleanup.
In the first inning, he singled, moved to third on Haase’s double, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Spencer Torkelson.
After walking his second plate appearance, Báez had his biggest hit in his third − when, with two outs in the fifth inning of a 2-1 game, he was all over a slider from Giants reliever Jakob Junis, and he ripped it to the wall in left for a two-RBI double. He walked again in his fourth plate appearance.
Báez was pullled from Thursday’s game after he forgot how many outs there were, and ran into a double play. Báez publicly accepted Hinch’s decision when speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, then responded with the bat Friday.
The double was just his second extra-base hit of the season − after the one he hit that proceeded his base-running blunder Thursday.
“Great game by him,” Hinch said. “I don’t think anybody doubts how impactful he can be, ever.
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“Getting a hit early, getting him off the stress of the last couple days, I think, was key.
“And he settled in and had a great Javy night.”
Vierling also had two hits from the leadoff spot, including a single in the third. After Vierling then stole second, Riley Greene drilled a two-out RBI triple off Giants starter Sean Manaea to the gap in left center. Haase also had two hits.
Like Báez, Vierling and Haase were back in the starting lineup after their mental miscues drew the ire of Hinch in Toronto.
Maton and McKinstry, meanwhile, weren’t in the starting lineup − but made two of the biggest contributions.
McKinstry with the glove, and “Wolfie” with a big, bad bat.
He turned on a 96-mph fastball, and knew he got it. He put his right hand in the area, sprinted around the bases, and flung his helmet high into the dark sky – putting an end to, at 3 hours, 50 minutes, the Tigers’ longest game of the season. And soon came the water and Gatorade bath.
“We all know our roles on this team, what we need to do,” said Maton, who was acquired with Vierling in the offseason trade that sent closer Gregory Soto to the Philadelphia Phillies. “And we’re ready for it when it comes up.
“Baseball is all about momentum, and we got a little bit right there.”
Twitter: @tonypaul1984