Tigers blow 5-0 lead, lose to Padres in 10 innings

On By Vaseline

San Diego — This is it. This is what playoff baseball looks like. A deafening sellout crowd at Petco Park (41,669), on its feet and roaring for every pitch. Exciting, nail-biting moments throughout the game. Both teams playing matchup games with their bullpens like there’s no tomorrow.

That’s how it feels. The San Diego Padres cheer as they rip off the jersey of Fernando Tatis, Jr. after his two-out walk-off single beat the Tigers 6-5 in 10 innings.

And the Tigers, somber, the locker room deathly silent. A 5-0 lead gone in the blink of an eye. A chance to gain ground in the wildcard chase missed.

“Tough game,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Tough loss.”

The Tigers (70-70) missed a chance to overtake the Red Sox (70-70) in the wild-card race. The Twins (75-64) and Royals (76-65) hold the second and third wild-card spots. Now the Tigers, Red Sox and Mariners (70-70) are all bunched together, five losses out of last place.

“Everything felt a little bit like a playoff game,” said Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling, who had a pair of hits, including his 16th home run of the season, helping the Tigers build a 5-0 lead. “Everybody’s grinding, trying to win. Everybody’s emptying the bullpen, regardless of what happens tomorrow or what happens in the future.

“We tried to put our best guys against their best guys and it felt like they were doing the same thing.”

The Padres, who erased a five-run deficit in the fifth inning, left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings. Tigers right-hander Will Vest entered in the seventh and retired six in a row, going through the heart of the Padres’ order and knocking out Tatis, Jurickson Profar and Jake Cronenworth.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were completely shut out by a fleet of top relievers, including three straight lefties (Wandy Peralta, Adrian Morejon and Tanner Scott), followed by right-handers Jason Adam, closer Robert Suarez and Jeremiah Estrada.

“Every time we went there, we faced a different guy,” Vierling said. “I don’t know the last time I faced that many lefties in a row.”

That’s playoff-style bullpenning.

“We had our chances,” Hinch said. “Especially early on. But they showed their rushing offense and their shutdown bullpen. It’s tough when you come in extra innings and don’t do much with your chance (in the 10th).”

Estrada struck out Kerry Carpenter, got Colt Keith to ground out and sent pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy to center field with the free runner on third base.

That left Hinch having to make a decision about his choice in the tenth inning.

Jason Foley was called up to pitch the 10th. Lefty Tyler Holton, who led off Monday, was unavailable. Foley got two outs, holding the free runner at second base with two-time batting champion Luis Arraez coming and Tatis threatening on deck.

Arraez, who had two hits in the game, bats left-handed. Tatis, who didn’t return to action until Monday, bats right-handed and was 1 for 9 in the two games. Hinch picked Tatis and intentionally walked Arraez.

“They’re two of the best hitters in the league,” Hinch said. “We took our swing with the righty. We thought we could get the ball on the ground, and we did.”

Tatis, however, hit his ground ball into the gap between shortstop Trey Sweeney and third baseman Ryan Kreidler. Jackson Merrill scored the winning run without a pitch.

“You’re not in a good position either way,” Hinch said. “Arraez gets hit and it feels the same. We just figured the best chance to get the ball on the ground to someone would be the righty.”

There were big moments and big plays on both sides.

Merrill, the Padres’ rookie of the year candidate, had three hits. His three-run homer (his 22nd) off Tigers’ rookie right-hander Keider Montero in the fourth inning quickly chipped away at the lead.

Montero cruised through the first three innings with just 36 pitches. But he wouldn’t survive the fifth.

SCORECARD: Padres 6, Tigers 5 (10)

MLB STANDINGS

Arraez singled for the third time and Tatis, Jr. doubled. With one out, Manny Machado hit a two-run single to tie the game. Montero had outplayed Machado the first two times he faced him. Left-hander Sean Guenther was warming up in the bullpen and would fill in for the left-handed Cronenworth.

Machado didn’t let it get that far.

“The first few at bats, I was using my fastball as much as I could and I got it that way,” Montero said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “The third at bat, Dillon (Dingler, catcher) called for the changeup and that was the pitch I wanted to throw. We agreed on it.

“But he was lucky enough to make contact at the last minute and it worked out.”

The Padres missed a chance to tie the score in the sixth against reliever Beau Brieske. With one out and David Peralta on second, Arraez singled to left-center. Peralta first froze on the liner, then tripped and fell. He had to retreat to second.

Brieske walked Profar to load the bases with two outs, but Machado grounded the ball to Vierling in right field.

In the seventh inning against reliever Shelby Miller, Merrill hit a ground-rule double. But Xander Bogaerts had to stop at third base when the ball bounced over the wall. Miller let pinch-hitter Donovan Solano walk to load the bases with one out.

More: AL wild-card race: Tigers (70-70) in three-way tie with Red Sox, Mariners

But he got Mason McCoy to hit a fielder’s choice grounder with Bogaerts out, and he got Arraez to ground out to shortstop.

“I just felt like we worked really hard and had some good at-bats,” Vierling said. “This game really had everything. Even though we lost, I think it’s pretty valuable experience to play in front of that many people. It’s baseball in September and that means something to us.”

Sweeney, the rookie left-handed shortstop, hit a majestic two-run homer off Padres left-hander Yuki Matsui. Rookie Keith, in a 1-for-19 skid, had two hits and an RBI. Rookie Jace Jung, in a 1-for-16 rut, singled and walked.

“I don’t know if they really know what they’re playing in,” Vierling said. “They’ve never really experienced it. But to see all these guys come through, it’s impressive. … Even though we lost, just getting that experience is valuable.”

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