Tigers making all the right moves, get rare back-to-back wins vs. Indians

Detroit – There will be times this season when manager AJ Hinch makes the right decision at the right time, for the right reasons, and it will backfire.

Then there is a game like Saturday when every lever he pulled hit a jackpot.

"I enjoy all wins, whether I made good decisions or not," he said after the Tigers beat the Indians for the second time to start the season, 5-2 Saturday. "I love the fact that the players are stepping up and making plays. It's more about the players, their willingness and the work they put in."

It was the first time since May 14-15, 2018 that the Tigers have taken two straight from the Indians. And it's the first time they've started a season 2-0 since 2016.

"When you walk into that clubhouse, everything is positive," said right fielder Nomar Mazara, who had three hits and knows nothing of the Tigers' struggles against Cleveland. "It's a positive mindset. Everybody is talking good about everything. 

"We can't be negative all the time. This game is hard enough to play. We have to find the positives in everything. That's what we're doing. We can't get caught up in that negative stuff."

About Hinch and those levers: 

► Jonathan Schoop was a Gold Glove finalist at second base last year. He's played 848 games at second. On Saturday, Hinch started him at first base for the first time in his career. Hinch did it in part to use his best athlete, Niko Goodrum, at second base against a predominantly left-handed hitting Indians lineup.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 5, Indians 2

The result: Schoop made several clutch defensive plays, including starting a 3-6-3 double-play in the third inning with a nifty backhand pick of a short-hop that left Ben Gamel's bat with an exit velocity of 106 mph. 

"I didn't even know he was playing first base until he made that play," said Tigers starter and winner Julio Teheran who allowed only a solo home run to Eddie Rosario in five solid innings. "It was good to have him. We all know he can play in the infield."

► Hinch was spared having to make a lose-lose choice in the fifth inning.

Teheran, holding a one-run lead, had navigated through trouble in the third and fourth, and when he walked Gamel with two outs in the fifth, his pitch count was climbing toward 90. Things got dicey when he went to a full count on switch-hitting Cesar Hernandez with Indians slugger Jose Ramirez looming on deck.

Hinch had lefty Derek Holland warm up in the bullpen. So the decision he was facing if Hernandez got on was to stay with a faltering Teheran or bring in Holland — which would have flipped Ramirez to the right-handed batter’s box, where he has been more dangerous in recent years.

Lose-lose. 

"In this league, you are between a rock and a hard place a lot," Hinch said. "It's a tough league trying to navigate through lineups in different ways. The middle of their order presents a lot of problems. In two games we've been able to work our way around it and avoid the big swing a couple of times. 

"Teheran threw the ball pretty well and handled the game. He had to pitch around some runners today, be creative and make pitches when he needed to. And he did that."

Teheran saved Hinch the tough decision by getting Hernandez to fly out to right field.

"I knew I was getting deep in the game and I needed to make my pitch with him" Teheran said. "Cesar is not an easy hitter to face. I faced him when he was with the Phillies (and Teheran with Atlanta) a lot. He kind of knows where my stuff is.

"But I was competing and I made my pitch."

► Right-hander Michael Fulmer has appeared in 85 big-league games, all as a starter. Hinch brought him into the game in the seventh inning, again with the Tigers holding a 2-1 lead. 

"It's a new environment for him," Hinch said. "He didn't know he was going to pitch until the inning before. We're kind of ripping the band-aid off some of these guys, letting them know I'm going to use them whenever."

Fulmer responded with a clean, 14-pitch inning. His fastball was sitting at 95 mph and he ended his inning striking out Andres Gimenez with a wicked slider. 

"He was excellent," Hinch said. 

►Bryan Garcia ended last season as the Tigers' closer, but he struggled through spring training, to the point where Hinch told him he was not going to close games at the start of the season.

So, naturally, Garcia got the final four outs to earn the save.

"Situations are going to come up that aren't going to be perfectly planned out," Hinch said. "The faster these guys can get up and running the better. Fulmer came in throwing hard and mixing his pitches pretty good and was executing. That's a good day.

"Garcia didn't throw well in spring but this is a lesson in how you can turn the light switch on when the third deck comes in and the games count."

While Teheran won the pitcher of the game belt on this day, the hitting star was Jeimer Candelario. He walked and scored on a triple by Willi Castro in the first, then singled twice and later doubled in a run in the Tigers' three-run seventh inning. 

Leadoff hitter Robbie Grossman drew three more walks. He has walked six times in two games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he's the first leadoff hitter to walk six times in the first two games of the season since Cleveland's Vic Davalillo did it in 1977. The last Tigers player to do it was Jo-Jo White in 1934. 

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, hitting down in the order, had six-plus walks in the first two games in 2018. 

"This is how I wanted to start my season," said Teheran, who came to camp on a make-good contract and won a spot in the Tigers rotation. "And this is how the team wanted to start, with two wins. I am just glad I could put my little grain of sand in this one today."

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Hinch had rookie Akil Baddoo on deck to hit for Miguel Cabrera, who had singled and walked.

"Miggy cramped up," said Hinch, who was spared having to make the move when the last out was recorded. "The whole body, basically. He said he could hit but I said no. We were just being very cautious with him." 

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky