Detroit Tigers rightfielder J.D. Martinez knew the game plan when it came to facing Arquimedes Caminero, so Martinez sat on a 3-2 slider. He got his pitch and hit it hard, but it was just foul.
Hard-hit contact was the difference in this game, and it was the reason why the Tigers came away with a 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night at PNC Park.
For what it’s worth, Martinez worked a walk in that at-bat and set the table for a Jarrod Saltalamacchia grand slam.
“Those are the at-bats that turn one-run innings into multi-run innings,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Martinez’s walk.
Vogelsong locates well
It may have been a quick hook for Ryan Vogelsong, but it wasn’t because of a lack of confidence in him. He allowed just one run in five innings, throwing 66 pitches and 41 strikes in the outing.
“It wasn’t the pitch count,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “I felt we were best served with the time he had spent down and the time he had in the game. I thought our best shot to move forward was the bullpen.”
Vogelsong dominated the Tigers through one turn in the batting order. The lone blemish was a single to Anthony Gose, which centerfielder Andrew McCutchen got an assist for after his throw to second base eliminated the baserunner.
“He was doing a really good job, he didn’t miss,” Saltalamacchia said of Vogelsong. “He was pretty firm tonight and hit his location really well. It was frustrating.”
Though the damage was minimal during the first trip though the lineup, something changed the second go around. Every single ball was hit hard by the Tigers, and the outs were quite loud.
Vogelsong encountered a spot of trouble in the fourth inning when he allowed a solo home run to Ian Kinsler, which was followed by a Justin Upton single and a one-out book-rule double to Martinez. Vogelsong did settle down, getting Nick Castellanos to ground out to third base and Saltalamacchia to fly out to deep center field. Still, that one run changed the Tigers’ dynamic.
“The second time through, we were trying to get our pitch and not miss it,” Saltalamacchia said. “You have to keep grinding and see what happens.”
Ausmus was very high on Vogelsong’s outing, giving him credit for taming a tough lineup.
Hurdle knew it had been 18 days since Vogelsong last started and, considering the circumstances, was pleased with the end result.
“I thought he pitched extremely well,” Hurdle said. “Some turbulence in the fourth, but he kept the ball down to get out of that inning. He did a very good job.”
Going Greene
The Tigers were in a similar boat as the Pirates with their starter, Shane Greene, who hadn’t started since spring training and hadn’t appeared in a game in a week. Greene (1-0) struggled with nerves and location in a 35-pitch first inning.
That inning included two consecutive walks and resulted in a mount visit from pitching coach Rich Dubee. After that, it was as if Greene could do no wrong.
David Freese recorded a one-out single in the first inning, but it wasn’t until a sixth-inning single that the Pirates registered another base knock.
“He got through it and shook off the rest, and pitched well the rest of the game,” Ausmus said. “(Greene) is a tough-minded individual and won’t be deterred about the couple of bad pitches.”
In the outing, Greene pitched six innings and threw 97 pitches, 60 of which were called strikes. At one point, he retired eight consecutive batters, and Saltalamacchia, Detroit’s catcher, credited the starter’s success on his slider.
“He had a lot of bad swings on the slider,” Saltalamacchia said. “The slider was really good tonight. He just did a great job of not missing and keeping us in this game. This win is all on him.”
Caminero’s mistakes cost Pirates
“I made a mistake and paid for it,” Caminero (0-2) said about the walk to Martinez and the grand slam to Saltalamacchia.
Caminero appeared in relief of Vogelsong and quickly got two outs. Caminero was a strike away from getting out of the sixth inning, but Miguel Cabrera hit a double, and Caminero walked Martinez. Castellanos followed with a single, and third base coach Dave Clark held Cabrera at third.
It only took Saltalamacchia one pitch to hit a grand slam, his fourth career grand slam and 100th home run of his career.
“The guys in front of me were not trying to do too much,” he said. “With two outs, I’m just trying to get a fastball, and we were trying to hit it over the shortstop’s head and not get too big. He threw a slider that just went down-and-in to a left-hander’s swing.”
Saltalamacchia did get the ball back after the game.
“This game is not easy, so to have enough time in to be accomplish something like that is a great feeling,” Saltalamacchia said. “To get the lead and win makes it even better.”
Caminero said the pitch was a cutter that was mistakenly placed over the plate, and Hurdle accepted responsibility.
“The ball found the middle of the plate, and pitches weren’t executed,” Hurdle said. “That was not what we were set up to do. When you are the manager and you make those moves, you take the responsibility of a bad ending.”
Up next
The Pirates conclude the two-game series when Gerrit Cole (0-1 5.79 ERA) faces Jordan Zimmerman (1-0 0.00 ERA). Cole is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in two career starts against the Tigers.
Photo credit: Don Wright/AP Photo
