The Tigers had no trouble finding hits Friday night in San Francisco. Turning them into runs was the problem.
Detroit finished with an 11-5 edge in hits, but the Giants made their damage count in a 5-2 win at Oracle Park to open the three-game weekend series. The Tigers got on the board first, answered once, and then spent too much of the night stranding traffic while San Francisco cashed in on its chances.
Keider Montero made his nineteenth start of the year for Detroit, and for the most part he looked like the version the Tigers have been leaning on: not a huge strikeout arm, but one who usually keeps the walks and home runs under control. That wasn’t quite the case here. Montero allowed five runs over six innings, and three of those came on walks, an unusual wrinkle for a pitcher who hadn’t issued more than two walks in a start since the middle of May.
Detroit’s first inning looked promising right away. Kevin McGonigle opened the game with a broken-bat single to right, Gleyber Torres followed with another single, and Dillon Dingler brought home McGonigle on a fielder’s choice grounder for a 1-0 lead.
The Giants answered immediately in the bottom half. Jung Hoo Lee walked, Rafael Devers followed a strikeout with a two-run homer to center, and just like that San Francisco had a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers tied it in the second after Spencer Torkelson singled to lead off the inning. A groundout moved him to second, Zach McKinstry singled him home, and the game was even again at 2-2.
That was as close as Detroit got the rest of the way.
Montero ran into trouble in the bottom of the second. After a walk, a single and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, he struck out Christian Koss on a fastball up near the eyes, then walked Bryce Eldridge to load the bases. Lee followed with a two-run single to push the Giants ahead 4-2, and while a grounder to third created another tense moment for Kevin McGonigle, a popup to Javier Báez finally ended the inning.
Both starters settled in after that, and Detroit needed Montero to go deep with Jackson Jobe lined up to start Saturday and unlikely to work far into that game. Montero did manage a pair of 1-3 innings, but the Tigers’ offense couldn’t make the most of the quieter stretch.
In the fifth, McKinstry singled, McGonigle followed with another single to move him to third, and after two foulouts to right - one of which looked deep enough to score a run - Riley Greene lifted a small fly to left that stayed up just long enough to be caught.
Then came the swing that widened the gap. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Willy Adames launched a solo homer to left to make it 5-2. That was the shot that really stung.
Detroit kept putting men on base later, but the Giants kept getting the outs they needed. Keaton Winn took over in the seventh and worked around a single, a double play and a Dingler walk.
Sam Hentges then allowed a flare from Greene that dropped in left, sending Dingler to third and Greene to second on the throw. Eduardo Valencia pinch-hit for Colt Keith, but Hentges froze him with a curveball on the inside corner for strike three.
Montero’s final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K. Drew Sommers handled the bottom of the seventh for Detroit and worked through a clean inning with strikeouts around a soft comebacker. One of those punchouts came after Adames had a strike-three call overturned on challenge, then swung through the next pitch anyway.
Hentges stayed on for the eighth and gave up a leadoff infield single to Torkelson. Hao-Yu Lee walked with two outs, but McGonigle flew out to left to end that threat.
Enmanuel De Jesus followed in the eighth and kept the Giants quiet with a 1-2-3 frame. Then old friend Dylan Smith, now San Francisco’s closer, finished it off in the ninth. Greene drew a two-out walk, but Valencia flied out and that was that.
Saturday’s game is set for 7:15 pm EDT and will air nationally on Fox.
Final score: Giants 5, Tigers 2
Numbers and Notes
The Tigers’ offense has looked better lately, and the broader numbers support that. On the season, Detroit owns a .732 OPS, which is above the league average of .712 and trails only the Astros.
They’re still a strikeout-heavy club, but maybe not as extreme as people assume. Entering Friday, the Tigers ranked fifth in the American League in hitter strikeouts. They also ranked fourth in the AL in walks and home runs, which is about as classic Three True Outcomes as it gets.
Foolish Bailey put out a video this week about how the Milwaukee Brewers punish bad pitchers and struggle against good ones, which could matter in the playoffs.
Zach McKinstry and former Tiger Zack Short have names that are just different enough to make every recap a small spelling exercise.
The Dodgers have now lost seven straight.
On this day in 1927, the Peace Bridge opened between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.
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