San Diego — This is it. This is what playoff baseball looks like. A deafening, sold-out crowd at Petco Park (41,669 spectators) on its feet and roaring at every pitch. Tense, nerve-wracking moments throughout the game. Both teams playing matchup games with their bullpens like there’s no tomorrow.
And that’s exactly how it feels. The San Diego Padres celebrate and rip Fernando Tatis Jr.’s jersey off after his walk-off single with two outs beat the Tigers 6-5 in 10 innings.
And the Tigers, gloomy, the locker room dead silent. A 5-0 lead gone in an instant. A missed opportunity to make up ground in the wildcard race.
“Tough game,” said manager AJ Hinch. “Tough loss.”
The Tigers (70-70) missed the chance to move past 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 tied and five losses out of last place.
“Everything about it felt a little bit like a playoff game,” said Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling, who had two hits, including his 16th home run of the season, to help the Tigers extend a 5-0 lead. “Everyone was fighting hard and trying to win. Everyone was emptying the bullpen no matter what happens tomorrow or later.”
“We tried to put our best guys against their best guys and it felt like they were doing the same thing.”
The Padres, who had erased a five-run deficit by the fifth inning, loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh innings. Tigers right-hander Will Vest came in the seventh inning and made six straight outs, tearing through the heart of the Padres’ line, striking out Tatis, Jurickson Profar and Jake Cronenworth.
The Tigers, on the other hand, were completely slowed down by a whole series of top-class relievers – including three left-handers in a row (Wandy Peralta, Adrian Morejon and Tanner Scott) ahead of right-handers Jason Adam, closer Robert Suarez and Jeremiah Estrada.
“We played a different opponent every time we went up there,” Vierling said. “I don’t know the last time I had that many left-handers in a row.”
This is playoff-style bullpenning.
“We had our chances,” Hinch said. “Especially early on. But they showed their fast attack tactics and their shutdown bullpen. It’s tough when you go into overtime on the road and don’t capitalize on your chance (in the 10th).”
Estrada struck out Kerry Carpenter, got Colt Keith to ground out, and with the runner at third base, pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy flew out to center.
This led to Hinch having to make a decision about which poison he would take at the end of the 10th inning.
Jason Foley was called to pitch the 10th inning. Left-hander Tyler Holton, who opened Monday, was unavailable. Foley got two outs and held the loose runner on second base while two-time batting champion Luis Arraez entered and Tatis was next.
Arraez, who had two hits in the game, is batting left-handed. Tatis, who only returned to active duty on Monday, is batting right-handed and was 1 for 9 in the two games. Hinch chose Tatis and allowed an intentional walk to Arraez.
“Those are two of the best hitters in the league,” Hinch said. “We took our chance with the right-hander. We thought we could get the ball on the ground, and we did.”
However, Tatis smashed his ground ball into the gap between shortstop Trey Sweeney and third baseman Ryan Kreidler. Jackson Merrill scored the decisive run without throwing.
“Either way, you’re not in a good position,” Hinch said. “Arraez gets hit and it feels the same. We just thought the right-hander had a better chance of getting the ball on the ground.”
There were big moments and big moves on both sides.
Merrill, the Padres’ Rookie of the Year candidate, had three hits, but his three-run home run (his 22nd) against Tigers rookie right-hander Keider Montero in the bottom of the fourth inning instantly narrowed the lead.
Montero had gotten through the first three innings with just 36 pitches, but he would not make it through the fifth inning.
RESULT: Padres 6, Tigers 5 (10)
MLB TABLES
Facing the top of the batting order for the third time, Arraez hit a single and Tatis Jr. hit a double. With one out, Manny Machado hit a two-run single to tie the game. Montero had taken Machado out of the game the first two times he faced him. Left-hander Sean Guenther was warming up in the bullpen and was expected to fill in for left-hander Cronenworth.
Machado didn’t let it get that far.
“The first few at-bats, I used my fastball as much as I could and caught him 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.”
“But he was lucky to make contact at the last second and made it.”
The Padres missed a chance to break the tie in the sixth inning against reliever Beau Brieske. With one out and David Peralta on second base, Arraez hit a single to left-center field. Peralta froze on the liner, then stumbled and fell. He had to retreat to second base.
Brieske walked Profar with two outs to load the bases, but he got Machado to hit a lineout to foursome in right field.
Then Merrill hit a ground-rule double against reliever Shelby Miller in the seventh inning. But Xander Bogaerts had to stop at third base when the ball bounced over the wall. Miller walked pinch-hitter Donovan Solano to load the bases with one out.
More: AL wildcard race: Tigers (70-70) in three-way tie with Red Sox, Mariners
But he got Mason McCoy to hit a grounder with fielder’s choice when Bogaerts was out at the plate and got Arraez to shortstop with a ground out.
“I just felt like we really tried hard and had some good at-bats,” Vierling said. “That game kind of had everything. Even though we lost, I think it’s a pretty valuable experience just to play in front of that many people. It’s September baseball and that means something to us.”
Sweeney, the left-hitting rookie shortstop, hit a majestic two-run home run against left-hander Yuki Matsui of the Padres. Rookie Keith had two hits and an RBI in a 1-for-19 series. Rookie Jace Jung hit a single and a walk in a 1-for-16 series.
“I don’t know if they really know what they’re playing,” Vierling said. “They’ve never really been through this before. But to see all these guys step up is impressive… Even though we lost, the experience alone will be valuable.”
@cmccosky
