MIAMI -- It was only fitting that some wackiness swung in the Tigers’ direction after the calamitous extra-innings ending for Detroit on Saturday night at loanDepot park.
The baseball gods smiled down on the Tigers on Sunday afternoon following the squad’s gloomy pair of outings to open its road series against Miami. Despite the slow start in the finale, Detroit bounced back to close the series with a 2-0 victory.
The Tigers got 76 pitches in five innings from reliever Keider Montero, who gave them a starter's workload in what was supposed to be a bullpen game. Montero finished with five strikeouts and allowed three hits in five scoreless frames.
José Urquidy -- in his first MLB appearance since Oct. 23, 2023 -- came on to record four outs before Tommy Kahnle took over in the seventh and carried the load through the eighth. After hurling two scoreless innings in Saturday's loss, Will Vest came on to pitch the ninth, allowing a one-out single and a walk before notching back-to-back outs and seal the win.
The wackiness ensued back in the second inning, and it accounted for Detroit's lone offense. It began when Colt Keith slapped a grounder to Eric Wagaman at first, and Wagaman couldn’t handle it. The ball trickled past him and just past the first-base dugout, where second baseman Maximo Acosta rushed over to grab it.
Acosta fired to third base to put out Spencer Torkelson, who was trying to go from first to third. But Acosta's throw was errant, jetting past Javier Sanoja and bouncing into left field. Troy Johnston then fumbled a barehanded attempt to field it, allowing Torkelson to score from first.
Dillon Dingler singled up the middle one pitch later to score Keith.
Aggressiveness on the basepaths bit Torkelson on Saturday, when he was tagged out trying to score on a passed ball. But it’s something that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch constantly preaches. It paid dividends for Torkelson in the finale.
“One of the things that we do really well is just play to the final stop,” Hinch said. “… We’re not afraid. Obviously, that was a play you just don’t see, where it’s just a multitude of errors and players running all over the place. And then Dingler comes up right after that and gets the big base hit, which we didn’t know at the time that was gonna be the comfort zone.
“But I think our willingness to be aggressive 100 percent of the time is a key component of our style.”
Montero’s strong day didn’t come as much of a surprise to Hinch, either.
“We had the full array of innings for him, and pitches," Hinch said. "I think his stuff maintained throughout his outing. I think that's a good sign. But going in ... we knew we had about five innings, just based on how his last 10 days to two weeks have gone. So it was good that he set the tone with zeros.”
“I’m grateful to God for giving me the strength to get back on the mound again,” Montero said via translator. “... Looking forward to any opportunity the guys give me to help them win games, in any role. I don’t care, I’m ready.”
Montero is no stranger to a starting role.
16 of his 19 appearances in his rookie season last year were as a starter. Montero opened Game 3 of the 2024 American League Division Series and helped the Tigers capture a 3-0 win over their division-rival Guardians, against whom they'll open a three-game set in Detroit on Tuesday.
Montero's first four appearances this season came as a starter, but five of his next seven came from the bullpen.
“This year, he was sort of our extra starter,” Hinch said, “going up, going down, going up, going down. And his attitude has remained the same.
“... He can be a really good pitcher, and the good version of him establishes the strike zone. And once he does, he’s got a lot of pitches that are hard to cover. So it’s big for us, especially in a time of need.”
Montero’s emergence as a starting arm capable of providing length is opportune, with three Tigers starters on the IL and Tarik Skubal’s injury scare on Friday.
“If you think about where [Montero has] come from,” Hinch said, “trying to make it to the big leagues and already having a complete game under his belt, pitching in the playoffs under his belt. He’s got a lot of mental fortitude … that makes it easy to trust.”