12:59 EDT — Welcome back! In our first baseball post, we’re gonna revert to the tried ‘n’ true Running Diary format and chronicle the hot-starting Detroit Tigers in their home opener against the Oakland A’s.
13:01 — Just a big glass of water and some Snyder’s of Hanover twists on deck to carry us through the game. Watching on Bally Sports Detroit, which will be its name for a couple more weeks, I think. I tune into the action as Penei Sewell is throwing out the first pitch. He stripes one that nips that lower outside corner. Nice Lions tie-in and a good omen for the football season to come.
13:04 — The broadcast has now been handed off to Jason Benetti and crew (which today is Craig Monroe and Kirk Gibson). Benetti has started off his Detroit tenure with the same near-unanimous approval he had when he was calling games for the White Sox. I’m so glad he’s our guy now, as is everyone else. He’s been a long-time guest on one of my top 5 podcasts, the innovative and hilarious Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. Pardo’s a big ChiSox fan and has been having Benetti as a regular guest for years, so when I heard the Tigers poached him I was absolutely elated.
13:07 — I think Little Caesar’s Crazy Puffs might be the final irresponsibly unhealthy thing I’ll eat. I’m getting too old for Cheesy Gordita Crunches and the like. Might take one stab at the Crazy Puffs and call it.
13:10 — Skubal gingerly skips to the mound. Having lived with one for a long time after not having one for a long time, I can’t overstate how much having a top-flight ace on your team’s pitching staff makes the summer better.
13:11 — Benetti gets a nice opportunity for a personal thanks to the crowd and tells the gentlemen on the field to Play Ball! What an exciting day. First pitch from Skubal is a high strike followed by a groundball out to short. One away quicker than most.
13:13 — Brent Rooker ruins the perfect game/no-no with a nice shot to shallow right off the first pitch. Skubal looks sharp, that last hit coming as if he likes playing with his food.
13:15 — Skubal throws four straight fastballs, the last of which was 97 and high enough on the ladder to end the inning in a forwards K. Nice way to end an inning before the home crowd sees their Tiger offense for the first time this season.
13:19 — The Tigers have two outs on three total pitches. Hard line drives that happened to be directly at the right fielder and third baseman, respectively. “Patient, disciplined plate approach” was apparently not a central part of Hinch’s pre-gamer.
13:21 — Tork flies out foul to retire the side. They can’t all be exciting innings. Shots of the home crowd in the stadium and in tailgate environs indicate they’ll be having a fun time regardless of how exciting the baseball is.
13:24 — After another first pitch out by the A’s, Benetti points out that this game could take an hour and a half. He’s not kidding! I’m sure hitters will settle down, but jeez. I don’t know how I feel about these quicker games yet. There’s plusses and minuses. As I write this, Skubal dusts a dude out with a 99 cheeser.
13:26 — Skubal strikes the next dude out on 4 pitches. He’s in a nice groove, didn’t even bother throwing outside the zone for that one.
13:28 — Playing euchre online during commercial breaks. Keeping this experience very Great Lakes State.
13:31 — Riley Greene’s first home AB of the season is a loud out to center. Tigs can’t catch a break on balls in play. Ah well. Keep hackin’, boys.
13:33 — Tigers get their first man on base when Eric Canha is hit on the elbow pad by a two-seamer that ran inside. Sadly, as quickly as we get on base we get cleared off by a 5-4-3 double play. To the top of the third!
13:38 — Skubal works at a Verlanderish pace when he’s feeling it. You barely have time to chase a small handful of pretzels before the A’s accrue two outs in the third. Just dealing.
13:39 — Skubal ends another inning with a K. This time he pulled the string on a dude who’s last name is Gelof. Weird name, kinda. Skubal gets about an 18 mph difference between the cheddar and the hook, he can make guys look silly when he’s throwing rocks like he is thus far today.
13:42 — Johnny Kane and Benetti make a great Longshot Louie reference with regard to Kane’s ridiculous bet promotion picks. All the while, another Tigers screamer goes right at the Oakland shortstop. A few feet difference in the direction of these hits and we’d be up by like 5. Ah well. “Ah well” is the best part of baseball. “162 games, it’ll work out. Ah well.”
13:45 — As the broadcast crew laments the bad BABIP luck, I feel compelled to point out the weather looks much sunnier in Detroit than our forecasters predicted. As long as it’s not too windy out there, just a beer or two would have you pretty comfy, temp-wise.
13:49 — I can hear through the broadcast mics that they’re playing the Austin Powers theme for some sort of fan cam segment. I bet hijinks ensued. That music ALWAYS means hijinks. Oh, behave! Yes. Meanwhile, another first pitch out for Skubal. Top 4 and he hasn’t thrown 40 pitches yet.
13:50 — Skubal gets Rooker looking absolutely silly his second time up. Just flailing like a child. A child where you’re like, “Oh, should we take him to a doctor? Is this okay?”
13:52 — Another K for Scooby! That makes 6 through four innings. Pretty solid. Boy, if the offense can wake up during its second time through we’ll be in serious business here.
13:54 — AAYYYYY!!!!! Matt Vierling answers the call and sends an absolute screamer over the left field wall for the season’s first home home run. The Pizza sphere is out, just as Benetti was getting a Little Caesar’s delivered to the booth. Gosh damn I love this town sometimes. People who hate on Little Caesar’s are just a bunch of dunderheaded goofs.
13:56 — Andy Ibáñez gets to first on a soft-hit ball up third, then advances into scoring position on a throwing error! Tigers looking to do some damage here bottom 4 with Tork and Greene coming up.
13:59 — Tork hammers a double up the left side to bring home Ibáñez! Nice AB from Tork, fended off some high and tights and eventually find a nice one to stripe. 2-0 Good Guys.
14:02 — Great calls from our broadcast crew. Right as their exalting Tork’s aggressive lead-off from second, he scores on a hard-hit grounder from Greene partially due to the huge lead he gained for himself. Nice run from the heart of the order. 3-0 Tigs!
14:04 — Loud out to left by Mark Canha. Still just the first out of the inning. Tigers can add to the tally. Let’s see Gio Urshela do something fun for the home fans.
14:09 — After Urshela flies out to shallow center, Jake Rogers draws a walk after a protracted AB. Javy Baez has a chance to jump-start his season and blow this game open. Let’s hope. He needs something.
14:10 — Sadly, Baez grounds out to short. But the Tigers registered some good damage. Nice little “hitting is contagious”-type inning. Let’s hope Tarik stayed warm during the break.
14:13 — I jinxed Scoob, as he threw his first first-pitch ball of the game. And then followed that up with three more balls for a walk. His first walk of the year. What a powerful jinx! 14:16
14:16 — A potential inning-ending DP is marred by a less-than-great throw from Urshela. His Detroit start has not been excellent. Let’s hope he finds a groove soon. It’s been a cold start to the season.
14:17 — Scooby makes it all null and void with his 7th K of the outing, holding the A’s scoreless through the first half of the game. C-Mo summed it up nicely from the booth: he’s locating his high cheese very consistently, and that’s enabling his change-up to its highest effectiveness.
14:23 — The Tigers were retired without even getting to a 3rd ball or 2nd strike count. Very quick work. I wonder if both sides agreed that a 3-0 lead would be a mercy and have decided to coast through the second half of the game because it’s so chilly. Again, shots of the fans seem to indicate they’re not concerned about the cold.
14:26 — Benetti and crew rightfully open the inning talking about how awesome Detroit Opening Day is. They’re not wrong. I imagine it’s pretty rad in cities all over but oh boy is it fantastic in Motown. Even on chilly days, the mass of happy humanity warms your heart.
14:27 — Tarik gives up his second hit of the day, but it’s a one-out double that just gets past Urshela. The A’s are threatening to get on the board here in the 6th and as they make their way up for their 3rd at-bats. Not helping the situation: my puppy farted and it’s nuclear.
14:29 — Skubal gets the critical second out on another devastating changer, but then immediately after Brent Rooker drills a low-in-the-zone softie over the left field wall. Rooker is the only guy that seems dialed in, but he’s almost enough; the lead is cut to 1. 3-2 Tigboys.
14:31 — Skubal ends the inning with his 8th K and looks absolutely pissed at himself as he walks off the mound all surly.
14:33 — The few shots we’ve gotten of the new scoreboard are pretty cool. That thing looks absolutely enormous. I bet it’s even more impressive in person. Tork’s up to start bottom 6.
14:37 — Tork flies out to shallow right after another super loud out to just-foul left. Greene follows suit with another soft fly.
14:38 — Against the run of play, Mark Canha absolutely hammers one to left for an insurance homer! That one went deep into the crowd, 25 rows maybe. 4-2 Tigs.
14:39 — And Urshela is getting into the groove! A nice piece of gap-seeking sets him up with a two-out double. A double which, after consideration, gets A’s starter J.P. Sears a trip to the dugout for the afternoon. Pitching change.
14:42 — Oakland brings in a righty to deal with Jake Rogers, and Rogers definitely gets dealt with. He gets caught on mic being frustrated, and rightfully so. Not a great AB with a guy on third. Still, widened the lead a bit. Tigers go into the 7th up 4-2.
14:45 — I like the new Miller campaign that inexplicably feature Luke Wilson. I want all three notable Wilson brothers on more stuff. I didn’t get enough Wilson at their peak, I wanna see more Wilson.
14:46 — Skubal’s losing a little bit of his early command, but he’s still throwing 96. If he can get through this inning clean the Tigs should be in good shape. A loud out to right is the first step.
14:48 — Oh shoot. Abraham Toro turns on an inside heater and sends it deep into the left field stands. The lead is back down to 1. Tarik might just be getting a little fatigued. Only 90 pitches, but it’s cold and it’s early in the season. Some shaky stuff before getting the second out leads Hinch to pull Scoobs. Pitching change. 4-3 Tigs.
14:52 — Cure Auto Insurance has the worst local ads that have ever aired in Detroit. They spend a lot on athlete endorsements and clearly don’t spring for $50 worth of acting lessons for said athletes. They’d be funny if they didn’t try to force the dumbest jokes imaginable. I mean that literally. It’s impossible to imagine dumber jokes that still make sense.
14:54 — Will Vest comes in and gives up a double! Oh dear. At least the cut-off saved a run, holding the A’s runner at third. And as I’m typing this, the A’s tie the game on a fielder’s choice. Damn. No Opening Day W for Skubal.
14:56 — After working Gelof into a full count, Will Vest gives up a walk with the go-ahead run 90 feet from scoring. Biggest AB of the game so far right here.
14:58 — Vest records a swinging K, but the damage is done. We’re tied going into the stretch. On a positive note, the pilots from the pre-game flyover are on the field and they’re playing Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins before they play God Bless America.
15:01 — Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson lead the crowd in Take Me Out To the Ballgame, which is lovely. I expected them to do something wacky, but I think this thing is too tightly scripted. No matter; I’ll be seeing them later tonight for ITYSL Live and I expect the silliness will be in full effect.
15:03 — Javy hears a smattering of boos as he pops up a meatball hanger that could’ve been sent over to Windsor. 90% of the positivity of an hour ago has evaporated. Only the hops-fueled fan fervor is keeping the energy in the building right now. Tigers gotta feed on that.
15:05 — Parker Meadows draws a questionable walk, but with the top of the order coming up the Tigers might be in business.
15:08 — Vierling bravely works the count full and eventually draws the second walk in a row. Kerry Carpenter comes in for Ibáñez, and Oakland is gonna switch to TJ McFarland to get a lefty-lefty matchup.
15:12 — It works magnificently for the A’s. McFarland gets Carpenter to ground into an extremely easy double play. Rats! Tied up 4-4 going into the 8th.
15:17 — On a sunnier note, Jason Foley and his glorious mullet (one of many terrific Tiger mullets) look to be super locked in. Struck out the first two and got the third to fly out easy. Tigers go 3-4-5 for the bottom of the 8th.
15:20 — The current A’s reliever is named Erceg. Is this the weirdest named team ever? Regardless, Tork doubles off of Erceg to lead off the inning. Fine start to the inning. Let’s do it Tigs!
15:23 — Riley Greene goes out kinda meekly on a steady diet of change-ups. Big Boppin’ Canha takes a Ruthian cut on his first swing and almost falls over. The Tork double didn’t get the Tigers as charged up as the crowd.
13:25 — Canha gets called out looking on a garbage look from blue, but then Urshela doubles to right! Tork comes home for the fifth run, and the Tigers re-take the lead late! 5-4 Boys.
13:27 — Totally huge AB for Javy coming up. They intentionally walked Colt Keith to get to him. He can shut the door on the game with a nice hit here.
13:28 — Javy flies out to deep center after another terrible called strike that pushed the count to 2-1. I think the home plate ump is getting a little punchy. These quick games have only been around one season and suddenly nobody’s got the stamina past two hours. Still, Tigs take the lead. Time to close it out.
15:31 — Andy Chafin, another gloriously mulleted Tiger, gets the chance for the save. He looks like if Todd Jones had more permissive parents.
15:32 — After a full count and some foul offs, Chafin walks the lead off batter. Blood pressure is rising all over the metro area.
15:34 — A sweet K on a slidepiece and Chafin’s back in business. Two more!
15:36 — Chafin gets squeezed by blue on a critical pitch again. Gonna check that Twitter acct that shows ump ratings after a game. This guy’s been all over the place in the late innings.
15:38 — Another walk from Chafin. Two on, one out for the A’s. The nice thing is that Chafin’s got a good slider in addition to his decent cheese, so a ground ball double play here isn’t impossible. But he needs solid command, and that hasn’t been consistently demonstrated as of yet.
15:40 — A shallow fly to left gets Chafin his second out. We’re gonna go to Alex Lange for the 27th out. He’ll face Gelof. The Tigers are an out away from winning Opening Day and improving to 6-1. Shamone!
15:43 — Lange got the A’s down to their last strike and delivered a gem of a curveball to get Gelof out swinging! Tigers Win! Tigers Win!!!!! A real rollercoaster of a game, but the home team prevailed and gave this sell-out crowd a terrific show. And it should be said: a great game from Benetti. The chemistry when the booth is 3 deep with him, C-Mo and Gibby could use a little fine tuning, but they’re still getting used to each other. Good game, good broadcast. Go Tigers! Auf Wiedersehen!
