Detroit — The Tigers came home from Cleveland on Wednesday night feeling pretty good. They’d won back-to-back road series, were in second place in the division and sniffing the .500 mark at 17-19.
That started to feel like a long time ago. Especially after the Seattle Mariners rolled into Comerica Park and swatted the Tigers on the nose a couple of times.
On Sunday, though, the Tigers got back on their feet. They took advantage of a spate of wildness by reliever Matt Brash in the seventh inning and took the series finale, 5-3.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 5, Mariners 3
“Huge,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “You never want to get swept. But that was big for us to salvage this one before the off day and build some momentum going into the Pirates series.”
It’s crazy sometimes how the game sorts things out. Manager AJ Hinch talked before the game about keeping his faith in struggling hitter Nick Maton, slotting him again in the No. 5 hole despite coming in to the game was 3 for 29 with 11 strikeouts in May.
And sure enough, it was Maton who came up in the pivotal moment of the game.
The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, having chased Mariners starter Logan Gilbert in the sixth. Lefty reliever Gabe Speier, a former Tigers farmhand, walked Rogers and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Jonathan Schoop.
With one out, Mariners’ manager Scott Servais brought in right-hander Brash, who features a big slider and a knuckle curveball, the kind of pitches that have been poison for Maton in this skid.
Brash got Javier Baez to fly deep to right field. Rogers tagged and advanced to third. Brash walked Spencer Torkelson on five pitches. It appeared he was pitching around Torkelson with Maton on deck.
Which was understandable with Maton already battling an 0-for-3 day with two strikeouts.
“I was just thinking how many secondary pitches are they going to throw to him and what was he going to do with it,” Hinch said. “Brash has that big sweeping slider and he throws it to (the hitter’s) back foot a lot. The moment was there for Nick.”
Brash hit Maton on the foot, forcing in the go-ahead run. He compounded the mess by walking Andy Ibanez to force in another run.
“Wolfie is ready for any and everything,” said Akil Baddoo, using Maton’s nickname. “So when it comes to the bases loaded, I want Wolfie up there every day. I’m putting my money on him. That’s him just competing, doing whatever he can to get that run in and he did his job.
“That was really big for us as well.”
Baddoo had a hero moment himself, ripping a two-out RBI double to the wall left field to tie the game 3-3. The Mariners had stolen some hits from the Tigers by deploying their left fielder more shallow than normal, especially with a runner on second base.
Baddoo was the first one to burn them.
“I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Baddoo said. “I was just making sure I put a good swing on the pitch. I got something over the plate – that was a big knock, for sure.”
The third hero for the Tigers in this one was a collective. The bullpen. Five relievers covered the final 6.1 innings without a run.
“They’ve been nails,” Rogers said. “I can’t throw too many complaints out there about those guys. When that happens, it’s pretty easy to win ballgames.”
Jose Cisnero, normally used in later innings, was called upon to stop the bleeding in the third inning after starter Joey Wentz had been tagged for three runs and five hits.
“Having the off-day Monday and another one Thursday absolutely played into wanting to keep that game close right there and being able to empty the tank,” Hinch said. “We needed to keep the game close against that pitching staff. You fall behind 5-1, 6-1, you’re in big trouble.”
Rookie Mason Englert pitched the fifth and sixth innings and Jason Foley pitched the seventh.
Interesting decision by Hinch in the sixth. Mariners’ All-Star Julio Rodriguez came up with a runner at second and two outs. It was still a 3-2 game. Hinch does not issue many intentional walks, but Rodriguez had four hits and a home run in this series. If ever he was going to issue one…
“No, I trust Englert to mix and match his secondary pitches and not give in,” Hinch said. “One thing I’ve learned about Mason, he’s not going to give in. He’s going to go with his best stuff, he’s going to change the pace of the at-bat and not be as predictable as some young pitchers.
“I don’t want to walk him and give the guy behind him (Eugenio Suarez) extra motivation to deliver. The guy behind him is not bad, either.”
After a visit from pitching coach Chris Fetter, Englert got Rodriguez to pop out to first on first-pitch fastball up and in.
With Cisnero already used, Hinch entrusted the eighth inning to lefty Chasen Shreve. He worked a clean inning with two strikeouts. Alex Lange got the ball again in the ninth. He made it a little dramatic walking Rodriguez and Suarez with one out.
But he regathered and struck out the dangerous Cal Raleigh and Teoscar Hernandez.
It was Lange’s seventh save of the season. He hasn’t allowed a run in 13.1 innings.
“That’s a big win for us,” Baddoo said. “We have to keep trying to carry that momentum forward into each of these series.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
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