Brieske becoming key cog in Tigers' pitching plans

DETROIT -- Beau Brieske was wrapping up his postgame interview Thursday at his locker in the Tigers' clubhouse when closer Gregory Soto walked by and gave an apologetic gesture. Brieske responded with a reassuring, "all good" nod. No words needed to be spoken.

This is how the Tigers are sticking it out through a Murphy’s Law type of season.

“Just one of those nights where I put the team in a position to win and it didn’t work out,” Brieske said. “Just got to focus on tomorrow and keep working, keep working.”

A day after Tigers players had a postgame meeting to talk about hitting and pitching pulling their weight, among other things, Brieske picked up the club and carried its fortunes on his right arm as long as he could, a career-high seven innings. The combination of a lone run of support and a ninth-inning battle of command for Soto left Brieske with a no-decision and Detroit with a 3-1 loss to Texas.

The Tigers’ fifth straight defeat dropped them a season-low 15 games under .500, matching the low point of their 2021 season during a 9-24 start. Yet as difficult as this season has been, it’s scary to think how much worse it could be without rookies Brieske and Alex Faedo plugging holes in an injury-depleted rotation.

If Wednesday’s 13-0 loss was an example of how rough it could be, with Faedo suffering a rookie-type of performance, Thursday was an example of the lift the rookies have been giving more times than not. Maybe more importantly, it’s arguably a sign of how Brieske -- a 27th-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft -- continues to learn on the fly, through an extended stretch in Detroit’s rotation after just 21 Minor League starts.

The Rangers mixed in left-handed and switch-hitters against the right-handed Brieske, who entered with reverse splits in his brief big league career. Brieske, who has battled home run issues, took Texas’ power hitters from the left side as a challenge.

“That was the most lefties we had faced all year,” Brieske said. “It was cool to see how a three-pitch mix would work to mostly lefties today. I think we did a really good job of showing a good mix and getting ahead with each pitch.”

The mix worked arguably better than anything he had shown to date. His 94 pitches included more sliders and changeups combined (45) than 4-seam fastballs (37), keeping him out of patterns. His six strikeouts were one off his career high, but more importantly, the vast majority of his contact was soft, averaging 84.4 mph according to Statcast – 4.5 mph below his season average of 88.9 mph.

All three hits off Brieske came from left-handed or switch-hitters, but all three were singles. One was a bunt from switch-hitter Jonah Heim to a wide open left side of the infield for a leadoff runner in the fifth. Brieske’s other two hits allowed came off the bat at 96.2 and 77.9 mph. By contrast, he allowed just four balls in play over 100 mph, and all went for outs, three of them on the ground.

“He was really good at attacking the strike zone,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He got into a lot of good counts. He was able to spin enough [pitches], landed some pretty good changeups. His fastball location was the best it’s been since he’s been a big leaguer.

“Going through that lineup and really finding different ways to get guys out -- early on it was on the ground, later it was some late-count offspeed pitches.”

That last part was important, especially given the state of Detroit’s bullpen. No Tigers starter had completed six innings in a start since Tarik Skubal on June 7 in Pittsburgh. Brieske completed six in just 78 pitches with help from his defense; first baseman Spencer Torkelson reached over the railing of the Rangers' dugout to catch an Adolis García foul pop to strand a runner on first.

Thus, a day after Hinch used three position players to finish out the final few innings, he had an easy call to send Brieske out for the seventh for the first time in his Major League career. He responded by striking out Kole Calhoun on three pitches, Heim on a 94 mph fastball, then winning an eight-pitch battle with Nathaniel Lowe with a groundout.

That completed a second straight scoreless performance for Brieske, whose 12 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings are the most by a Tigers rookie since Michael Fulmer’s AL Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016.

Not until Brieske’s final inning did he actually have a lead to protect; Robbie Grossman’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly not only was Detroit’s lone run off Rangers lefty Martín Pérez, it was the Tigers’ first RBI in 26 innings dating back to Monday. That’s all the Tigers could muster, providing a slim margin that proved more tenuous under Soto, who walked two left-handed batters and hit another ahead of rookie Ezequiel Duran’s bases-clearing triple.