CLEVELAND — Unlike most things associated with baseball, a collective, early sigh from a dugout can’t be measured, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen for the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
Detroit halted an eight-game losing streak behind two home runs in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians, including a leadoff blast by Jahmai Jones.
“To get the energy going and get that spark right off the bat was huge,” Jones said after the Tigers’ 4-2 victory forged another tie with the Guardians atop the American League Central. “Everyone understands how important these last few games are.”
They’re especially important for the Tigers, who are attempting to avoid an historic fade from the postseason after seemingly having the division locked up weeks ago. Their skid has been matched by a Guardians hot streak, allowing the teams to pass each other in the standings Wednesday only to have the Tigers re-engage the Guardians on Thursday.
“Everyone needs to see a little bit of positivity in the game,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “We are human. We feed off a ton of things, including the good things. Of course everyone takes a collective breath.”
Two batters after Jones homered, Wenceel Perez did the same, giving a cushion to bulk opener Troy Melton before he took the mound.
“That’s the ideal start when you’re on the road,” Melton said.
If Melton wasn’t hyped after being told he’d start just the evening before, the early lead provided some energy. He came out throwing gas, hitting 97 and 98 mph on the radar gun in the first inning as Cleveland went down in order.
“A little but more adrenaline with the game being more important,” Melton said.
He lasted 3 2/3 innings before handing the ball over to the first of five relievers who combined to give up just a single run the rest of the night. Detroit, meanwhile, tacked on runs in the second and fourth innings to secure a win that was badly needed.
To this point, the right process wasn’t enough; the right execution was. It’s been lacking for the Tigers of late, leading to a blown double-digit lead in the division. That included two blown leads in each of the first two games of this series, both losses.
But Thursday felt different.
“It’s hard to win,” Tigers left fielder Riley Greene said. “You show up every day not knowing what’s going to happen.”
The Tigers have been proving that to be true over and over again this month, but they still have a chance to right the ship before the days run out on them. They need help to win the division — Cleveland owns the tiebreaker — but they control their own destiny in the AL wild-card race. Their magic number is 4.
“It hasn’t been going the way we want it to go for a little while now, so it kind of felt like a weight lifted off our shoulders, like we’re back on track,” Melton said. “It was good to put a win together.”
The Tigers head to Boston, where the Red Sox have a one-game lead for the AL’s second wild card. The Guardians will host Texas, which has lost nine of 10. Meanwhile, both Detroit and Cleveland are one game ahead of Houston, which ended a five-game slide of their own, for the final AL wild-card spot.
“We want to win as many games as we can, and we know if we win as many games as we can, we’ll be just fine,” Hinch said. “Tonight was a good example of what we can bring to the table every night.”
Except they haven’t been. It’s been one bad moment after another, and with a trip to raucous Fenway Park for the final series, the Tigers will need to lock in.
“Even though they count the same, they don’t feel the same because of where we’re at,” Hinch said with a smile.
So perhaps the mojo has returned to the team that dominated the American League for the first half of the season.
One good win can do that.