Tigers shutout Guardians without a single strikeout

The Tigers collected a win to edge their way into a Wild Card spot after beating the Guardians 3-0 to win the series two games to one. Next up? The division leading Chicago White Sox come to town on Friday night.

Nothing quite like afternoon baseball on a nice August day in Detroit. The Tigers were hoping to wrap up their series against the Guardians with a win, after dropping the second game on Wednesday night. To get the job done they had the reliable Keider Montero on the mound up against the sometimes scary Parker Messick for Cleveland.

Chase DeLauter got things going for the Guardians with a one-out walk in the first. He then stole second, but thanks to a fielding error from McGonigle, DeLauter ended up at third. I love Kevin but the fielding has been wildly inconsistent the last couple of days. The gaffe didn’t end up costing the Tigers, though, as the next two batters were out. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.

Montero was in a nice groove in the second, getting the Guardians out in order. In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Torkelson reached on an error by the pitcher, and ultimately wound up at second base. The Tigers weren’t able to take advantage of having a runner in scoring position though and Messick didn’t end up causing his own unearned run.

Brayan Rocchio got a one-out single in the third, but two outs quickly followed to leave the runner stranded. In the home half, Javier Baez got a leadoff double. Ben Malgeri was then hit by a pitch. The bases were soon loaded as Gleyber Torres walked. Not sure if that second inning error shook Messick’s confidence, but this certainly wasn’t the version of the pitcher we were expecting to see today. A Dillon Dingler groundout scored Baez, putting the Tigers on the board first. They had to settle for just the one run, but it was a good start.

The Guardians went 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers did much the same.

Another three-up, three-down outing for Montero in the fifth. Nice stuff from him today. And once again, the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.

With two outs in the sixth DeLauter singled. Jose Ramirez then walked, and that was a situation where the Tigers would have loved to not have squandered all their ABS challenges because it shouldn’t have been a walk, but there was nothing to be done. Montero got out of the jam by inducing a flyout to end the inning.

In the home half with two outs Eduardo Valenica hit a solo home run to left field. The rookie continues to swing an extremely hot bat with five homers and a ludicrous 248 wRC+ in 46 plate appearances. Spencer Torkelson walked and that was it for Messick, who was replaced by Craig Yoho. Yoho got the final out of the inning.

Jo Adell grounded out to start the inning, but the Guardians challenged, claiming Torkelson came off the bag. It did look like Tork’s foot was off the bag when he caught the ball, but it was hard to say definitively. The Tigers got exceptionally lucky and the call was upheld for the first out of the inning. That was also it for Montero, whose final line for the game was 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K on 88 pitches. For a game without a single strikeout, Montero really dominated the Guardians, inducing a lot of weak contact to keep them off the basepaths. A nice outing from him. Tyler Holton came in to replace him. He got the final two outs of the inning. In the bottom of the inning Malgeri got a two-out single but the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.

Angel Martinez got a leadoff single in the eighth. Steven Kwan then hit into a force out to eliminate Martinez and put Kwan on, but the next batter was an out to leave him stranded. In the bottom of the inning Franco Aleman came in, and man don’t you think the Brewers wish they had a guy named “Aleman” in their bullpen? Yes, I know it’s not pronounced Ale Man, but still…) Kevin McGonigle got a one-out single. McGonigle stole second, then a pinch-hitting Colt Keith took a walk. Torkelson then singled to bring McGonigle home. Tim Herrin was the new pitcher after that. Keith advanced to third on a passed ball, but the Tigers would have to settle for just the one extra run, as Herrin got the two outs to end the inning.

Up to this point the Tigers had managed to maintain a shutout without striking out a single batter, so it remained to be seen if Kenley Jansen could continue the trend and also keep the Guardians scoreless in the ninth. Malgeri made another nice play on the warning track to retire Jose Ramirez. Sometimes the best thing you can do to improve your high leverage relief is to play better defense. A foul pop-up between third base and home plate should have been an out but McGonigle or Dingler both pulled up just short and it dropped on the ground. That’s not what we were looking for, defensively, but Jansen still managed to get the final outs of the inning on a fly ball to Clark and a line drive straight to McKinstry in left to complete the win without a single strikeout.

That is the first shutout without a strikeout in the major leagues since the Rick Porcello-led Tigers did it back on July 1, 2014. It’s only happened nine times since 1995.

Final: Tigers 3, Guardians 0