BALTIMORE — Detroit Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez was seven outs away from becoming the first pitcher in franchise history — and the first pitcher in MLB history since Félix Hernández in 2012 — to throw a perfect game.
“This is my best start that I’ve ever had,” Rodriguez said.
With two outs in the seventh inning, Ryan Mountcastle won an eight-pitch battle and hit a changeup into left-center field for a single. The hit broke up Rodriguez’s bid for a perfect game against the Baltimore Orioles. He fired seven innings of one-hit ball, but the Tigers’ offense failed to score until the eighth inning.
The Tigers lost, 2-1, in the series finale and were swept by the Orioles in three games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Right-handed reliever Mason Englert, a Rule 5 draft pick, allowed the game-winning run to score on a wild pitch with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning.
“It hurts to lose the game,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We had plenty of opportunities. You can’t win games if you continually miss out on opportunities, especially low-scoring games like that. We gave ourselves some chances and still couldn’t come through any sort of breakout hit or run-scoring event. It sucks to lose that game.”
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Rodriguez, who signed a five-year, $77 million contract in November 2021, struck out six batters without conceding a walk across seven (almost) perfect innings. The eight-year MLB veteran threw 65 of 95 pitches for strikes, generated 16 swings and misses and produced 18 called strikes.
“He was incredible,” Hinch said. “He was literally almost perfect. If we get starting pitching performances like that, we’re going to win more games. He set a great tone. We just didn’t score enough for him.”
The 30-year-old has pitched 17 scoreless innings in a row.
Rodriguez became the first pitcher in Tigers history to post back-to-back starts with at least seven shutout innings, zero walks and at least six strikeouts. The last MLB pitcher to do so was Jacob deGrom in 2019.
“High, the way I like it,” Rodriguez said of his confidence. “I’m just going out there and executing my pitches. That’s the way I’m thinking all the time, and that’s the way my mindset is all the time. I’m right where I want to be.”
All the runs arrive late
In the eighth inning, the Tigers (7-13) manufactured their lone run after back-to-back singles from Matt Vierling and pinch-hitter Eric Haase. A red-hot Zach McKinstry, facing left-hander Cionel Pérez, advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
The Orioles replaced Pérez with right-hander Austin Voth. Spencer Torkelson hit a first-pitch sweeper at the top of the strike zone to right field. The ball traveled high in the sky and wasn’t hit hard, giving Ryan McKenna plenty of time to prepare to throw home as Vierling tagged up. It was a bang-bang play at the plate, but Vierling beat the tag to put the Tigers ahead, 1-0, with two outs in the eighth inning.
“I was ready to score regardless of where he hit the ball,” Vierling said. “Fly ball down the line, and I just waited for Jonesy (third base coach Gary Jones) to give me the ‘OK’ to go. Once he did, I ran as I could, and (Nick) Maton was telling me to slide outside, so I did my best to barely touch home plate and be as far away from the catcher.”
Riding Rodriguez’s dominant start, the Tigers turned to left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve in the eighth inning.
Pinch-hitter Anthony Santander, with one out and a runner on first base, drilled a two-strike fastball down the third-base line. The relay throws — from left fielder Akil Baddoo to third baseman Maton to catcher Jake Rogers — didn’t beat Jorge Mateo to the plate, and the Orioles knotted the score, 1-1.
“We didn’t execute a clean play,” Hinch said. “Probably the only guy on their team that can score on that ball. He’s the fastest guy on their team. If we handle the ball a little bit better there, we may have a different outcome.”
After that, Shreve walked Cedric Mullins. Right-hander Alex Lange cleaned up the mess by striking out Austin Hays for the final out in the eighth.
Orioles closer Félix Bautista countered by retiring the side in the top of the ninth inning: Jonathan Schoop (groundout), Baddoo (swinging strikeout) and Riley Greene (called strikeout). Lange returned for the bottom of the ninth and slammed the door, too, sending down Adley Rutschman, Mountcastle and Ramón Urías.
In the top of the 10th inning, the Tigers faced left-hander Keegan Akin and loaded the bases with a free extra innings runner and two intentional walks (to right-handed hitters Haase and Torkelson). The outcome was in the hands of Maton, a left-handed hitter, despite an unfavorable matchup.
He popped out to end the inning.
With Englert on the mound, pinch-hitter Terrin Vavra bunted pinch-runner Adam Frazier — the free extra innings runner — to third base in the bottom of the 10th. A wild pitch from Englert, which bounced off Rogers’ glove and mask, allowed Frazier to score on the curveball in the dirt.
“I didn’t see where it went,” Rogers said. “My reaction was late, and when I got to it, they scored.”
The Tigers finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
“Maybe there’s some adjustments to be made with guys on base,” Vierling said. “Try to put together some at-bats and put the ball in play more. But it’s just baseball, and it’s a game of adjustments.”
Near perfection from Rodriguez
Before Mountcastle’s single, Rodriguez struck out the first two batters in the seventh inning. Hays whiffed at a sixth-pitch cutter, then Adley Rutschman whiffed at a fifth-pitch fastball.
Rodriguez retired the first 20 batters he faced.
“At some point, you have to see where you’re at,” Rodriguez said. “For me, it was just going out there and keep executing pitches. The result is going to be the way you like it if you keep executing the pitches. That’s what I was doing out there. I was throwing the pitches right where I wanted and with purpose.”
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In the sixth inning, Schoop ranged to the middle of the field. He stopped a grounder from Gunnar Henderson and saved the ball from sneaking into the outfield, then completed a quick throw to Torkelson for the first out.
The next batter, McKenna, dropped down a bunt.
Rodriguez fielded the ball, turned and completed a clean throw to Torkelson for the second out. Mullins fell behind 0-2 in the count but took three straight balls to run the count full. He swung at a down-and-away slider, which broke his bat, as the sixth inning ended with a groundout.
Rodriguez generated his 16 whiffs with five fastballs, six cutters and five changeups.
He also had 18 called strikes.
“He’s on,” Rogers said. “His pitches were good, and his last two outings have been great. He’s been attacking hitters and hitting spots. It was fun.”
Missed opportunities
The Tigers squandered opportunities to score early in the game against Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 23, is the No. 5 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
Baddoo, taking over for Maton in the leadoff spot, opened the game with a single to center field. He was stranded by three strikeouts in a row from Greene, Vierling and Kerry Carpenter.
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In the second inning, McKinstry delivered a double to put the Tigers in scoring position, and Torkelson worked a seven-pitch walk to increase the pressure. But Tyler Nevin grounded into a double play.
Rogers kept the inning alive with a walk, putting runners on the corners, before Schoop lined out to end the inning.
The Tigers had the bases loaded with two outs in the third inning, thanks to singles from Greene and Vierling and a walk from McKinstry. Rodriguez left a two-strike changeup over the heart of the plate to Torkelson, and although the 2020 No. 1 overall pick hit the ball hard, he lined out to right field and stranded the bases loaded.
Detroit didn’t get another runner into scoring position until the eighth inning.
Rodriguez pitched five scoreless innings with five hits, three walks and six strikeouts. He threw 58 of 92 pitches for strikes and recorded nine whiffs with five fastballs, one slider, two changeups and one cutter.
It was the fourth start in his MLB career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.