News now: The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers today and sidelined their star player due to a catastrophic injury.

News now: The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers today and sidelined their star player due to a catastrophic injury.

The Tigers‘ pitching-by-committee struggled to contain the Guardians in the second game of their four-game weekday series, falling 5-4 in Cleveland following a convincing series-opening victory on Monday.

For the majority of the day, Ol’ Reliable, or “TBA,” was the starting pitcher for the Tigers. In the end, it was decided that Tyler Holton, a dependable lefty out of the pen who has been lights-out lately, would start things off on a bullpen day this summer. It’s important to remember that his low-3 ERA is mostly distorted by three outings where he gave up 3, 3, and 5 runs. Apart from that, he has been a reliable option for multi-inning relief, regularly entering games and taking out six batters without putting up much resistance.

Xzavion Curry, making his fourth start and sixth appearance overall for the Buckeyes, was summoned to the mound by the visitors. It was his first start since May 27 in Colorado, and it didn’t go well (as a pitcher’s starts at such an altitude usually don’t). He has alternated between Triple-A Columbus and Cleveland, and neither team has seen much success with him.

Holton gave up a hit and a walk in his 1 ⅔ innings pitched, but nothing particularly noteworthy. After hitting the first hitter he saw in the second, Alex Faedo ended up ending the inning.

Steven Kwan gave the Cleves a lead in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run. Although that was only the second home run Faedo has given up to a left-handed hitter this season, Kwan will take care of you like that. How annoying. (Obviously, I would like having him play for the Tigers.)

In the top of the fourth, Mark Canha hit a double to left field with one out, and Wenceel Pérez followed with a home run to right center to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Detroit recovered that run and then some.

But the home team quickly tied the game with a solo home run by Jhonkensy Noel in the bottom of the inning. Following a single with one out by Tyler Freeman—who appears to be hitting Tigers pitchers only—Faedo was replaced by Joey Wentz. Wentz has had a lot of trouble this year with walks and stolen bases, but he was still able to end the inning without giving up any more runs.

Curry’s night was over when Jake Rogers hit a double to center with one out in the fifth inning, marking two runs through the order. After Matt Vierling grounded out, Rogers advanced to third, but the inning was ultimately unsuccessful due to a ground ball comebacker.

But José Ramírez’s leadoff at-bat in the second half of the inning wasn’t in vain; he gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead with a single home run down the left-field line.

In the sixth, Wentz put Will Vest in position to go second and third with one out. A sacrifice fly and a double by Ramírez gave the team a 5-2 lead, which would eventually be sufficient to secure the win.

Gio Urshela walked, and Zach McKinstry doubled with one out in the seventh to put runners on second and third. After that, Rogers attempted to score a home run in the opposite field but was forced to settle for a sacrifice fly, which allowed McKinstry to advance to third and cut the margin to 5-3. Hunter Gaddis, the pitcher, threw to first base after Vierling had walked to put runners on the corners. Josh Naylor misplayed the throw, allowing McKinstry to race home for a 5-4 lead.

After enduring a constant barrage of sharp sliders from Scott Barlow, Justyn-Henry Malloy eventually lined a single to center field to start the eighth inning. Malloy was trapped between the bases by a dropped Pérez popup to third following a flyout, and he was out of luck at second for the second out. In an attempt to put himself in scoring position, Pérez stole second, but Bligh Madris struck out, ending the game.

Holding down the fort in the eighth inning, Shelby Miller let up a two-out double to Martínez with the dangerous Ramírez due to surrender after some hard contact. Still, he got shortstop to pop up, extending the game to the ninth inning on a single run.

…which prompted the anticipated Cleveland bullpen Emmanual Clase. Although he isn’t unbeatable, I’m not sure whether you would precisely describe him as such. The story’s lesson is that the Tigers were unable to stop him, and as a result, the series ended with a game each.