Justyn-Henry Malloy’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning helped the Detroit Tigers come back from a 3-0 deficit to secure a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon.
“We do believe in what we can accomplish,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “Whether that’s magic, whether that’s momentum, whether that’s mojo, whether that’s vibe, whatever, we love it and we want more of it.”
With this victory, Detroit has won five games in a row and is tied with Kansas City for the second and third American League wild-card spots, sitting 2.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.
“We’re bringing the energy right now,” said rookie Colt Keith, who drove in two runs and scored another. “We have such a good team. I love this group.”
The Tigers were down 3-2 with one out in the eighth inning when Riley Greene hit a single off Garrett Cleavinger (7-5), and Matt Vierling walked.
Keith tied the game with an RBI single, which brought Malloy to the plate as the last position player on the Tigers bench, pinch-hitting for Kerry Carpenter.
Malloy hit a fly ball to medium center, allowing Vierling to easily score before Jose Siri could make the throw.
“They have four lefties in their bullpen, and we knew (Malloy) was going to hit against one of them,” Hinch said. “He was waiting all day for that specific spot.”
Beau Brieske (4-4) earned the win after pitching two innings in relief. Jason Foley closed the game in the ninth, getting his 27th save.
Rays starter Tyler Alexander gave up four hits and struck out six without any walks. He holds a 2.00 ERA in two career games against Detroit, where he played for the first five seasons of his career.
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Ben Rortvedt and Taylor Walls each singled with one out and scored on Brandon Lowe’s two-out hit.
Walls tripled with one out in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch from Casey Mize.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Hunter Bigge walked Vierling with two outs. Keith then hit an RBI triple, and Carpenter followed with a pinch-hit single to cut the deficit to 3-2.
