TORONTO — After a couple of base running blunders in the 4-3 loss Wednesday night, the last thing manager AJ Hinch was going to have the stomach for Thursday was another one. Especially from one of his premier players.
So when shortstop Javier Báez first failed to run hard out of the box on a ball that hit off the top of the left-field wall and then forgot how many outs there were and got doubled off second on a routine fly to center field – Hinch benched him.
The play happened in the top of the second inning and the Tigers went on to beat the Blue Jays, 3-1 and snap a six-game losing streak.
Báez played shortstop in the bottom half of the inning, but when the Tigers came back in to bat in the third inning, Hinch took Báez down inside the tunnel and told him he was dismissed for the night.
Báez came back into the dugout, untucked his jersey, grabbed his gear and went back down the steps and into the clubhouse.
Before the game, referencing base running mistakes by Matt Vierling and Eric Haase Wednesday, Hinch said, “It’s important that we learn from these mistakes…These guys aren’t perfect and they aren’t going to be perfect. But those are the types of plays we have to clean up to play a better brand of baseball and give ourselves a better chance in games.”
Nick Maton moved from third base to shortstop and Jonathan Schoop was inserted into the game at third base.
Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull was unaffected by the turmoil. In his third start of the season after missing 19 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, he struck out six and allowed only one run through five innings – leaving the game at 88 pitches with the Tigers clinging to a 2-1 lead.
He had his full arsenal, including his slider, a pitch that had been elusive for him in his first two starts. He established it right out of the gate, getting George Springer to chase one for strike three in the first inning.
He ended up throwing 30 of them, inducing four swinging strikes and nine called strikes. He was commanding his four-seam fastball and sinker, throwing them with a velocity range of 90 to 95 mph.
He pitched out of trouble in both the fourth and fifth innings. A two-out error by second baseman Zach McKinstry extended the fourth, but Turnbull jammed Cavan Biggio and got a weak roller to first, stranding runners at the corners.
In the fifth, after leadoff singles by Springer and Whit Merrifield, Turnbull bowed his neck and got Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., to foul out to catcher Jake Rogers, Daulton Varsho to ground out and then he punched-out Alejandro Kirk on four pitches, getting a swinging strike three with a 94-mph heater.
Turnbull threw a fist-pump as he walked off the mound. It was his first win since May 29, 2021 against the Yankees at Comerica Park.
The Tigers scraped together two runs off Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt. After Rogers singled and Maton doubled, Tyler Nevin, making his season debut, brought Rogers home with a long sacrifice fly to right.
In the fifth, Akil Baddoo walked and motored home from first on a double by McKinstry.
After failing to cash in on a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the seventh inning, Rogers delivered a clutch, two-out, RBI double off Wayne State grad Anthony Bass in the top of the eighth.
The Tigers couldn't hold a 3-1 lead Wednesday, but on this night, the bullpen locked it down.
Chasen Shreve, Jason Foley, Jose Cisnero and Alex Lange each pitched a scoreless inning. The fans seated near the Tigers' elevated bullpen in right-center chanted "Turtle neck, turtle neck," as Lange, always wearing a sleeveless turtleneck under his jersey, warmed up.
He was not rattled. He worked a clean ninth and earned his second career save. The first was on Sept. 20, 2021.
