Kansas City, Mo. — Riley Greene has had a cat-bird’s seat for most of Eduardo Rodriguez’s starts this year. What he saw from the veteran lefty on Wednesday was, well, impressive for sure but not at all surprising.
“Eddie is always good,” said Greene, who had three hits and triggered the game-flipping rally in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. “When he gives up a few runs we’re all like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Eddie is really good. He will always be good.
“He’s dotting left and right. He’s throwing all his pitches for strikes. He’s a really good pitcher. There’s nothing else to say about it.”
Was it maybe a little bittersweet then watching him carve up the Royals knowing that most likely, with the trade deadline looming, he might only have a couple starts left in the Old English D?
“I don’t have any comment on that,” Greene said. “He’s my teammate now and that’s all I care about.”
Fair enough. But the reality is, Rodriguez is at the center of attention for trade deadline shoppers. He is expected to be coveted by pitching-lacking contenders. He did not hurt his value.
“That’s what I want to do all the time,” said Rodriguez of his seven-inning, four-hit, seven-strikeout performance. “I’ve been working so hard this year to keep that kind of stuff the whole time. Working in bullpens, working with the pitching coach and everybody trying to keep throwing the ball right where I want to all of the time.
“Today was that kind of game. I was throwing everything right where I wanted and I threw all of my pitches.”
It was his third start back after missing more than a month with a finger injury and he set down the first 13 hitters of the game before giving up a one-out single to Matt Duffy in the fifth.
Michael Massey and left-handed hitting Kyle Isbel followed with RBI doubles.
That was the only smear on Rodriguez’s ledger. He allowed only one other hit and didn’t issue a walk (though he hit Duffy with an 0-2 pitch in the seventh).
“Eduardo was in total control,” manager AJ Hinch said. “It was probably his best start since coming back off the IL.”
It was the best version of Rodriguez. He was commanding four pitches – four-seam, sinker, changeup and cutter – in all quadrants of the plate. The changeup was especially important for him with the Royals stacking their lineup with seven right-handed hitters.
“I know I used it a lot,” Rodriguez said. “But like I always say, the hitters will tell me what pitches to use and the situation will tell me when to use it. Today, it felt like that was the pitch for me to win the game.”
He got three swinging strikes, a called strike and five softly hit balls (average exit velocity of 75.8 mph) with his changeup.
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The Royals whiffed on 15 of their 51 swings at Rodriguez’s four-seamer.
He needed only 89 pitches to finish seven innings. Efficient and effective.
“He’s our guy,” Hinch said. “He accepts that responsibility. He always wants to pitch deep into the game. We do have to remember this is only his third start back.”
There was drama at the end, though. It wouldn’t be a Tigers-Royals game without it. After Jason Foley pitched a scoreless eighth, there was some white-knuckle moments in the ninth as Kansas City-area native Alex Lange battled to lock it down.
First he got an assist from shortstop Javier Báez. After Lange hit Salvador Perez to start the inning, Báez scooped Lange’s low throw to second out of the dirt and completed a 1-6-3 double-play on pinch-hitter Nicky Lopez.
But Lange walked Michael Massey on four pitches and gave up a single to Drew Waters. With runners at first and third and two outs, Hinch made a rare non-pitching change mound visit. Normally it would be Chris Fetter. Not this time.
“I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page on a couple of fronts,” Hinch said. “Running game control to pitch selection, and to make sure we just collect ourselves at a moment when we’re still in control of the game. We just need one more out.
“Sometimes it’s good when I go out, sometimes it’s all Fett.”
With Massey dancing halfway down the line at third trying be a distraction, Lange struck out Kyle Isbel with three straight curveballs to earn his 16th save.
“Very satisfying win,” Hinch said. “A lot of people contributed and we were able to hang on.”
The Tigers’ hitters spent the better part of six innings trying to time up soft-tossing lefty Ryan Yarbrough. He didn’t throw a single pitch firmer than 87 mph. His average velocity on the 79 pitches he threw was under 80 (79.6).
It didn’t bother Báez much. He blasted a changeup 409 feet into the seats in left-center in the second inning. It was his seventh home run of the season and his first since July 2.
Left-handed hitting Greene wasn’t much bothered, either. He rapped two singles and a double off Yarbrough. His double ignited a two-run sixth inning.
Another left-handed hitter, Kerry Carpenter singled Greene home.
Yarbrough went 3-0 on Báez but winced noticeably after the third pitch. He came out of the game with what the Royals later said was a left hamstring strain. He was replaced at that point by hard-throwing right-hander Carlos Hernandez.
Talk about having to make a quick adjustment. They went from seeing 80 mph pitches to 98-, 99-, 100-mph fire.
Again, not a complete bother for the Tigers. Báez ended up walking and with two outs, Miguel Cabrera, old reliable, lined a 1-2, 100-mph heater into right-center. His single scored Carpenter with what ended up being the winning run.
“We talk about at this level anybody can time up 100 mph − even Miggy at 40 years old,” Hinch said. “What an incredible at-bat. He fought to stay in the count and the pitch was just away from him enough for him to hit the patented Miggy single that we’ve seen as a young player, a mid-age player and now as a veteran older player.
“It seems like there’s never a doubt that he’s going to do something.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky