'Crazy night': Tigers slug way to redemption, outlast Pirates 17-13 in 11 innings

Pittsburgh —The Tigers got their first taste of sudden-death overtime, MLB-style Friday night. It was bittersweet. 

Bitter for how they got there, but sweet for the way they responded. The Tigers scored four times in the top of the 11th and rescued a wild, 17-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 17, Pirates 13

"They pounded the ball and we pounded the ball," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It was all fun to watch — as long as we won."

The Tigers led 12-7 after seven innings and took a 12-9 lead into the ninth. It was still 12-9 with two outs and nobody on. But closer Joe Jimenez, who was 4-for-4 in save opportunities, gave up a single to Bryan Reynolds, who would score on a two-strike single by Phillip Evans. 

Then Adam Frazier, in a 1-2 hole, got a 92-mph fastball from Jimenez and knocked it into the bleachers in left-center field — 12-12. And just like that, the Tigers faced their first extra-innings game of the COVID-19-shortened season. 

The Tigers, as per MLB rules, started the 10th with JaCoby Jones, who had made the last out in the ninth, at second base. He was still there with two outs when the most unlikely of heroes stepped to the plate.

Dawel Lugo, in the game after pinch-running for Miguel Cabrera in the eighth, had just three plate appearances all season. 

But he lashed a single to right, scoring Jones and putting the Tigers up 13-12. 

The Tigers, having already used Gregory Soto, Buck Farmer, Jose Cisnero and Jimenez, turned to Bryan Garcia in the bottom of the 10th. First batter he faced, Erik Gonzalez, who had a four-hit, six-RBI night — hit a sinking liner in front of right fielder Travis Demeritte, putting runners on the corners.

Cole Tucker tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

The Tigers didn't settle for one run in the 11th. With Harold Castro running, Jeimer Candelario (three hits), ripped an RBI single down the right-field line. Victor Reyes, who reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and went to third when the throw went into center field.

Austin Romine, who had a two-run single earlier, delivered a clutch two-out RBI and Niko Goodrum capped it with a two-run double — his second two-run double of the night. 

Carson Fulmer got the final three outs. 

"Crazy night," Gardenhire said. "The ball was flying all over the place. You just have to keep ad-libbing and keep ad-libbing. This game had it all."

A win is a win, and the 6-5 Tigers won't throw it back — not after some four and a half hours of toil. But it was wobbly.

Down 7-5 after five innings, the Tigers took control of the game with a six-run barrage in the seventh.

They batted around for the second time in the game, getting RBI singles from Christin Stewart (who had two hits off two different left-handed pitchers), Candelario and Reyes (two), then a two-out, two-run double by Goodrum.

Earlier, C.J. Cron hit his third home run of the season and drove in two runs. Jones doubled, walked and drove in two runs. Candelario had three hits and Reyes two. They also took advantage of three bases-loaded walks in a four-run fifth inning.

The offensive outburst helped salve what is quickly becoming a thorny issue. What’s going on with Tigers’ ace Matthew Boyd?

Gardenhire was asked before the game where his concern level was with Boyd, who made his third start of the season.

“We are dealing with a very intelligent pitcher who knows what he needs to do,” he said. “It’s a strange year and he’s trying to adapt to it. He just needs to go out and compete. He will tell you he hasn’t been himself.”

He had eight days to process and pull things together, but progress was marginal. Boyd didn’t get through the fifth inning Friday, pulled after allowing seven runs and eight hits. In three starts, Boyd has been tagged for 15 runs in 14⅔ innings.

“He’s a good pitcher, but pitchers do go through stretches where they have a rough time,” Gardenhire said. “It’s just like hitters. They go through stretches and you have to ride it out.”

Boyd gave up a two-run single and a massive, 463-foot home run to No. 9 hitter Gonzalez, who had homered just twice in his previous 338 at-bats. Then with two outs and two on in the fifth, Boyd yielded the first big-league home run in the career of Pirates right fielder Phillip Evans — which took the Pirates from a run down to two-runs ahead.

Both of those home runs came on sliders — Boyd’s money pitch last season, the one opponents hit .189 against last season and swung and missed on 44 percent of them.

He threw 29 sliders Friday and got seven whiffs on 17 swings. He threw some beauties, for sure, striking out Evans and Colin Moran with hard-biting sliders that had depth. But he also threw a lot of flat ones, ones that moved on a horizontal plane. Those are the ones that get hit.

"I just want a few pitches back tonight," Boyd said. "I got some really good swings-and-misses with the slider. I got a couple of punch-outs with it. But I also gave up five runs with it, a two-run and a three-run homer. 

"One those two I just tried to overthrow it a little bit instead of just trusting the spin and let it play."

The Evans' home-run at-bat showed the inconsistency he’s dealing with. He got ahead 0-2 with two sliders that Evans whiffed on. He missed with the 0-2 pitch and Evans fouled off a fastball. The 1-2 slider bent right over the heart of the plate.

“I'm not a panicky type of guy," Gardenhire said. "He's our No. 1 pitcher and that's why I left him out there in the fifth. I still believe in the guy a whole lot. He can make pitches. He just hung a slider at the end and that's the confidence we're talking about.

"If he gets that guy, maybe he bows his neck a little bit and feels a lot better. I believe as we go here, Boyd will be just fine."

The Tigers’ offense bailed everybody out.

"We've done it a few times now," Boyd said. "We're never out of a game with this lineup. It's fun to watch."

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the seventh inning, loudly arguing a pitch called a ball by home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus. Replays showed the pitch to be right down the middle. 

With Shelton ejected, though, former Tiger Don Kelly, the Pirates bench coach, took over and managed the final four-plus innings. 

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky