Detroit — We don’t have all the data the Tigers have, so we can’t know all that went into devising the pitch plan for Matt Manning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. We don’t know, for example, the relative weaknesses of the Rays hitters or how exactly the shape of his slider or curveball might play against manager Kevin Cash’s lineup.
All we know is, for all the improvements he’s made with it, the slider is still one of Manning’s secondary pitches. His ticket to the big-leagues was his long-extension, riding four-seam fastball. And from what we saw on Friday night when the Rays jumped on rookie Reese Olson early, the Rays will attack and do damage against spin.
So it was curious to see Manning coming out spinning so many sliders and breaking balls Sunday. The Rays feasted, scoring five times in the first two innings and riding that to a 10-6 win in the series finale on a damp day at Comerica Park.
The first two Rays batters ripped sliders — a double by Yandy Diaz and a single by Wander Franco. An error by second baseman Andy Ibanez extended the inning and Josh Lowe made it pay with a two-run single — off a slider.
In the second inning, Manning threw three straight sliders to No. 9 hitter Christian Bethancourt, the third one was slammed for a double. Then, after falling behind 2-0 to Diaz, he threw him three straight sliders. The third one just spun over the heart of the plate and Diaz demolished it — 410 feet to left.
Five well-struck sliders, 5-0 Rays.
Manning hung a curveball to Brandon Lowe in the fourth and he hit that one farther than Diaz’s ball — 429 feet into the shrubs in center.
Manning ended up being charged for eight runs, six earned, in 5.2 innings. He threw 54 breaking balls (39 sliders, 15 curves) and 35 fastballs.
The slider got more effective for him as the outing went along, which may validate the theory that a well-executed pitch trumps a dubious game plan.
This game was full of curiosities.
Ibanez was involved in a couple. He had two hits and knocked in a run, but he also had two costly base running blunders.
With the Tigers down by four runs in the second inning, he ran through third base coach Gary Jones’ stop sign at third base and was thrown out easily at home plate by right fielder Luke Raley, ending the inning.
He ended another rally in the fourth getting doubled off second base on a line out to left field by Akil Baddoo. Kerry Carpenter had tagged and scored on the liner, cutting the Rays’ lead to 6-3. Ibanez, who was on second, didn’t read the ball and was nearly to third base when Randy Arozarena caught it.
The only positive was that Carpenter crossed the plate before Ibanez was thrown out trying to scamper back to second.
The way Manning’s outing ended was more frustrating than curious. He got the first two outs in the sixth and got Diaz to hit what seemed to be a routine fly ball to left-center. Eric Haase, who had just moved from catcher to left field, didn’t take a good route on the ball, circling it, and it fell in.
Franco followed with a single to end Manning’s day. Tigers’ newly-acquired lefty Andrew Vasquez entered and appeared to end the inning by striking out pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez.
Except that third-base umpire Shane Livensparger called a balk before the pitch. That plated one run and Ramirez, given a reprieve, singled in another.
All those misplays and curiosities proved costly as the Tigers’ kept chipping away.
Baddoo doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning and Kerry Carpenter sent a 1-0 changeup from reliever Jason Adam into the shrubbery in center field, a two-run homer that made it a two-run game, 8-6.
The Rays reestablished a four-run lead in the top of the eighth on a two-run homer by Franco. It was his third hit of the game and it came, fittingly, off another spinning pitch — a Brendan White sweeper.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
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