Evan PetzoldDetroit Free Press
Matt Vierling saved the Detroit Tigers from embarrassment.
Vierling didn't do anything special, but his bloop single off right-hander Bailey Ober in the fourth inning kept the Tigers from being no-hit by the Minnesota Twins in Sunday's finale of a three-game series at Comerica Park.
The Tigers lost, 5-0.
The offense finished with one hit, three walks and 13 strikeouts.
"He was really good," manager A.J. Hinch said of Ober. "He's a big, physical presence with a ton of extension, so the ball plays up a little bit, the velo plays up. He's got four separate pitches, and he had excellent command."
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The Tigers (52-55) ran another bullpen-only game, an all-too-common occurrence with only three pitchers in the starting rotation. Right-hander Kenta Maeda consumed the bulk of the work, taking down five innings as the third of six pitchers.
"We're going to continue to build off of these outings," Hinch said. "It's encouraging to watch his stuff get a little bit better and to watch him get a little bit more swing and miss. There's a lot to build off of, and we're going to continue to give him outings like this."
But Ober — a 29-year-old who entered with a 4.09 ERA in 19 starts —stole the show in Sunday's game, his 20th start of the season. He fired eight scoreless innings with two walks with 12 strikeouts, throwing 98 pitches.
Vierling produced the lone hit against Ober in the fourth inning, but after he reached first base, the Tigers stranded him: Colt Keith grounded into a force out, Wenceel Pérez struck out swinging, and Mark Canha struck out swinging.
"His arsenal has gotten better and better every time that we've seen him," Hinch said. "For what we're seeing now, that was pretty dominant strike throwing, and at least close enough to the strike zone where every pitch looked like a strike, so we ended up chasing a tick. He's an impressive young starter."
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The two walks: Vierling with two outs in the sixth inning and Canha with one out in the seventh inning.
After Vierling's walk, Keith flew out to the left fielder in foul territory. After Canha's walk, Bligh Madris popped out to the third baseman in foul territory and Ryan Vilade grounded into a force out.
In the eighth inning, the Tigers pinch-hit right-handed Justyn-Henry Malloy (replacing left-handed Zach McKinstry) and right-handed Carson Kelly (replacing right-handed Jake Rogers), but Ober struck out both pinch-hitters.
Ober then struck out Javier Báez — for the second time in three matchups —to complete his eight-inning masterpiece.
"We had done nothing," Hinch said, when asked about the pinch-hitters in the eighth inning. "We had a hit and a couple of walks. I just tried to give him a different look."
In the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Andy Ibáñez worked a one-out walk against left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar, but the next two batters stranded him to end the game.
Kenta Maeda in relief
Maeda allowed one run on five hits and zero walks with four strikeouts across five innings, throwing 83 pitches. The 36-year-old, a former starter making his third appearance out of the bullpen, entered in the third inning and stayed in through the seventh.
"Whether I'm pitching out of the bullpen or not, my job is just to execute all the pitches that I have," Maeda said in Japanese through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "That's been the main focus."
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The Tigers opened with right-hander Alex Faedo in the first and second innings, followed by left-hander Easton Lucas in the second and third innings. Both pitchers were charged with one earned run, making it 2-0 in the early innings.
Maeda looked sharp throughout his five-inning performance, taking over for Lucas in the third. He worked around a two-out single from Willi Castro in the fourth inning and a leadoff double from Manuel Margot in the sixth inning, but he couldn't escape damage in the seventh inning.
Castro opened the seventh with a leadoff single. He then scored on Matt Wallner's one-out double to left field. The double from Wallner put the Twins ahead, 3-0.
"I think all my pitches are on an upward trend," said Maeda, who generated 12 whiffs on 50 swings with five splitters, four sliders and two fastballs. "I think I was able to locate those pitches in different areas depending on the situation."
Jason Foley struggles
Right-hander Shelby Miller completed the eighth inning on 13 pitches, and while right-hander Jason Foley planned to complete the ninth inning, he allowed two hits and one walk — leading to a 4-0 advantage for the Twins —without recording an out.
The downfall of Foley forced the Tigers to call upon left-hander Andrew Chafin. The Tigers intentionally walked Royce Lewis to load the bases, then Ryan Jeffers made it 5-0 with a single to left field.
But Chafin responded by striking out three batters in a row to strand the bases loaded: Carlos Santana (swinging strike, slider), Margot (swinging strike, slider) and Max Kepler (swinging strike, sinker).
In the ninth, Foley threw 10 pitches and Chafin threw 17.
Contact Evan Petzold atepetzold@freepress.comor follow him@EvanPetzold.
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