PITTSBURGH – A.J. Hinch promised his team wouldn’t sulk after it got swept by the Chicago White Sox, or be caught by even the slightest bit of disheartenment. That wasn’t going to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Pirates, he noted.
The manager was right.
Mostly.
Whatever else is said about his Tigers, about their youthful inconsistency, their uneven bullpen, their talent for booting a grounder or walking back-to-back batters and turning blowouts into high-stress innings, there is this: They don’t dwell.
And they didn’t Monday, Aug. 17, at PNC Park as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-5.
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The win moved the Tigers (61-64) into a three-way tie for the final wild-card spot in the American League, knotted with the Baltimore Orioles (also at 61-64 after falling to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night) and the Texas Rangers (61-64 after having Monday off). That group is half a game up on the Toronto Blue Jays (61-65), who are half a game up on the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians (both at 60-65), leaving six teams separated by a single game for one playoff spot.
Yeah, the Tigers were sloppy Monday. But, yeah, the Pirates were sloppier. Maybe the Tigers just needed to play someone other than the White Sox, and Pittsburgh was as good a choice as any.
After all, the Pirates walked in a run in a not-so-attractive, three-run sixth inning, giving the Tigers an 8-1 lead after they’d done legitimate work in the first and second innings to build a four-run lead. In other words, they didn’t need Pittsburgh’s help, though here’s guessing they didn’t mind.
Here’s also betting that there will be plenty more nights – or days – when the postseason feels like a real possibility and other nights – or days – when it doesn’t.
At the plate: Lefties connect in Pittsburgh
It looked familiar for a moment, when Kevin McGonigle and Dillon Dingler struck out and flied out, respectively, after Gleyber Torres opened with a walk in the first inning. The Tigers’ two best hitters haven't looked much like themselves lately, and when they recorded the first two outs, it felt like more of the same.
Then Colt Keith singled to left, and Zack McKinstry – who is doing the second half of this season what he did the first half last season in an All-Star campaign – belted a single to center, driving in Torres, who scored from second.
A two out RBI?
Book it.
Hao-Yu Lee followed with another single, driving in another run and before the crowd settled into its seats, the Tigers led.
Torres singled in the second, and McGonigle drove him home when he hit a 405-foot home run to right center. His blast bounced off the concrete concourse behind the few rows of seats and next to the Allegheny River.
Two innings. Four runs. The sweep cleansed ... for a night, anyway.
Max Clark added an RBI single in the fifth, part of a two-hit night for the rookie who recently tweaked the way he loads his right leg before swings. It was a matter of finding better timing against fastballs, the pitch he sees more than any other, and will continue to see until he shows he can hit it consistently.
He did Monday.
On the mound: Framber Valdez starts hot
Framber Valdez was ... cruising? Effective? Fortunate the defense was stellar behind him in the second inning when he walked the leadoff batter, gave up a single to the second batter, and escaped when McGonigle made a nice scoop and throw on a grounder to third and Clark tracked down a ball to the wall in left center, making a tough catch look, well, routine?
Yeah, that last one, relying on what Clark has done with his glove for his first 16 games this season.
Just as Valdez has alternated solid outings with troubling outings for a chunk of the season. The tell usually comes in the first or second inning.
Once he got through the second, he seemed to find a rhythm in the next three innings. An unearned run scored in the fifth when Lee threw a routine grounder into the dirt at first base. Keith, playing first, couldn’t scoop it.
In the sixth, Valdez got into trouble again. He struck out the leadoff batter, gave up a double, got a groundout and then walked consecutive hitters with two outs to load the bases. Nick Yorke stepped to the plate.
Valdez threw a first-pitch strike then three straight balls and on the 3-1 count, tossed a sinker that didn’t sink. Yorke ripped it to left field, clearing the bases, cutting the Tigers lead to 8-4.
Kyle Finnegan relieved Valdez and gave up an RBI single before getting the final out of what felt like an hour-long inning.
Finnegan might have gotten through the seventh, but Javy Baez booted a grounder from the leadoff hitter. Drew Sommers came on with runners at first and second and one out and got out of it, then pitched the eighth, striking out two.
Kenley Jansen closed it in the ninth on just eight pitches, seven of them strikes.
Next up: More fun for the lefties?
Another righty from the Pirates (61-66), of course – Braxton Ashcroft, a little tougher than Carmen Mlodzinski, who couldn’t get past the third inning as he gave up four runs on eight hits, mostly because he insisted on grooving fastballs middle-middle.
Ashcroft has been the Pirates' best starter this season as reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes (who is slated to start Wednesday) is having a down year. Ashcroft needs just 85 pitchers to throw a complete game three-hitter his last outing, giving up a run to the Marlins. He’ll face Keider Montero, who has been the Tigers' second-most reliable pitcher this season, after Troy Melton.
Montero will have a chance to tilt the series to the Tigers and put more distance between them and the disappointing weekend at Comerica Park against the White Sox.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers break out of skid vs Pirates with big hits from Kevin McGonigle