A.J. Hinch called for an intentional walk for the first time since Aug. 17, 2018. The Tigers' manager later used his previous day’s starter to get the save, the first time for that in franchise history. That’s how unorthodox the Tigers’ 6-5 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night at Fenway Park proved to be.
About the only predictable part of the Tigers’ first win in over a week was Hinch’s faith in
• Hinch opens pipeline to player development
Six days after Hinch gave Mize a developmental inning in Chicago, Mize got a developmental out to preserve the lead in Boston. As a replay review resulted in a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth inning on Christian Arroyo’s hit-by-pitch, Hinch made no step out of the dugout. Despite a predicament partly self-inflicted by a leadoff walk, Mize got the chance to work his way out of it, much like he earned the chance to work a sixth inning last week.\n\n“I think how he’s handled a few of his outings this year -- especially late in his outings -- he’s got a great focus and a great burn to do well,” Hinch said. “And he was still \\[doing\\] a pretty good job of executing pitches. You do develop that feel, that gut feel, for what your guy can do, the more you leave him out there. Now, it’s dangerous. Those are critical at-bats, but he did earn the opportunity tonight with some semblance of reliability from the last time.”
Mize needed only one pitch to escape. He went right back inside to get it, jamming Hunter Renfroe into a groundout to third.\n\n“We had a meeting about it, and we’re thinking either slider away or go in,” Mize said. “And immediately in my head, I’m like, ‘Let’s just go right back in.’ I feel confident.”\n\nMize found himself in a pitching duel on the road for the second time in seven days, this time opposite Red Sox lefty Martín Pérez. Again, a bout of back-to-back walks came back to haunt. Consecutive second-inning passes to Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vázquez led to a run without a base hit. But also like last week’s outing against the White Sox, Mize kept an imposing lineup from big hits and big innings.
None of Boston’s three hits off Mize went for extra bases. The Red Sox hit four balls off Mize with greater than a 100 mph exit velocity, but two went for groundouts, another for an infield single.\n\nMize used his arsenal to keep the Red Sox off balance over 95 pitches despite just eight swings and misses. Instead of leaning on one pitch, he used each of his five pitches at least a dozen times, led by 34 two-seam fastballs. Both the two-seam and four-seam fastball were down 1.5 mph in velocity compared to his season averages, according to Statcast, but he kept them out of the mistake zone. His curveball was arguably his best of the season. His splitter was inconsistent, but it worked as a contact-for-outs pitch.
“I was pleased with the fastballs today,” Mize said. “I was able to throw both the four-seamer and the two-seamer to both sides of the plate, up and down. That was a pretty big part of our game plan.”\n\nMize allowed just one run despite four walks, and struck out three. He left with a 3-1 lead thanks to
Hinch did not give Martinez a chance to win it, intentionally walking him with first base open in the ninth.