Incredible win - the Guardians had lost 10 of 11 when trailing after 8 innings.
Needed a lot of luck like the error by Ibanez that gifted us two runs, the boneheaded base running by Baez in the 10th, and Fry's home run not being six inches to the right or it would have been a double.
But what a game by Rocchio, both at the plate and in the field. Over the last week he just looks much more relaxed and the hits, walks, and defensive plays are coming.
He singled, stole second, went to third on a throwing error by the catcher, and scored on a ground ball off the knob of Gimenez's bat to get the third run. Add in two excellent defensive plays and the game-winning no-doubter and this had to be his best game in the majors.
The bullpen threw six scoreless innings as they continue to lead the majors in WAR. Vogt is starting to have his relievers go more than one inning. He has no choice; they can't all pitch one inning every day.
Great to see Sam Hentges back and throwing well. Gaddis pitched two scoreless. Clase is down to 0.47. Two more months of this and he's a lock for the All-Star team.
Hedgie with a two-run single - more luck because it was a routine ground ball perfectly placed.
Bibee was good the first three innings but the second time through they teed off. That's two very bad starts in a row for him; very concerning. We need Bibee to be good as we're running out of starters.
The Tigers had 17 foul balls off Bibee in the 4th inning alone. Ibanez, who came in hitting .441 lifetime against the Guardians, started it off with an 11-pitch at-bat which I think took the wind out of Bibee's sails and also forced him to pitch from the stretch. It was all downhill from there.
Coming into today the Tigers' bullpen had pitched 9 shutout innings against the Guardians, but we got to them three straight innings today.
Wentz, Chafin, and Lange had ERA's coming in of 0.68, 1.93, and 1.29. The Guardians scored off all three of them!
Reese Olson has now allowed two runs or less in 11 of his last 12 starts. This kid is looking like another Shane Bieber to me. Six innings today and one hit - a seeing eye ground ball.
In his last five starts he's allowed four earned runs for a 1.23 ERA. He could make the All-Star team this year as well, but he'll have to compete with his teammate Tarik Skubal and his 4-0, 1.90 ERA.