Maton comes up clutch amid his journey out of a slump

DETROIT -- Nick Maton’s struggle to hit the breaking ball has been well-chronicled. So maybe it was fitting that the Tigers completed their comeback Sunday when the breaking ball hit him.

It’s more ironic than iconic. But when the Tigers needed to avoid a series sweep to the Mariners, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch is just as effective as a go-ahead hit.

“It's a good reminder to him and to all of us that you don't have to hit a homer to contribute,” manager A.J. Hinch said after Sunday’s 5-3 win.

Hours earlier, Hinch had explained sticking with Maton in the middle of the order. He was 3-for-26 with nine strikeouts in May entering the game, a slump that deepened Sunday with a groundout and two strikeouts against Seattle starter Logan Gilbert.

The game plan against Maton was set before the Tigers traded for him last offseason. He crushed fastballs last year with the Phillies, batting .406 (13-for-32) with four of his five homers coming off the heater. He was far less effective last year against breaking balls (3-for-23, 45.6% whiff rate) and offspeed pitches (2-for-17, 50% whiff rate).

His long-term success in Detroit hinges on hitting pitches other than a fastball. So far, he’s 4-for-36 off breaking balls and 0-for-13 against offspeed. All four of his homers this year are off fastballs, which he’s seeing at a similar rate.

The Mariners kept him off-balance all series, evidenced when rookie Bryce Miller -- known for a highly effective fastball -- threw a steady diet of secondary pitches against him Saturday. Hinch, knowing what an effective Maton would mean to Detroit’s lineup, has given him opportunities to make the transition.

“Some of it is trying to instill confidence in him,” Hinch explained Sunday morning. “Some of it is we really need a left-handed bat to break up right-handed bats in the lineup, so I can't just continue to roll out four and five righties in a row. Especially with the right-handedness of [Seattle’s] bullpen, I'm asking for trouble anytime they want to take their starter out.

“We need to get our left-handed bats back, obviously, to give different guys different looks and different breaks, but his left-handedness speaks to the need there. And then, he's one swing away. I mean, I know we all carry the things that we've done before into the next game. We're trying to separate that and give him an opportunity to be fresh every day and contribute.”

As the Tigers’ rally came together in the seventh inning following Akil Baddoo’s game-tying double in the sixth, the matchup was looming several batters away. Lefty sinkerballer Gabe Speier gave up a leadoff walk to Jake Rogers and a single to pinch-hitter Jonathan Schoop, but struck out Riley Greene. With two right-handed hitters ahead of Maton, Mariners manager Scott Servais went to Matt Brash, whose high-spin slider carries a 50% whiff rate this season.

Javier Báez, whose turnaround against sliders has been one of the bigger surprises of the Tigers’ season -- cutting his whiff rate from 46 percent last year to 29 this season -- caught a hanging slider and nearly hit it out to right. Teoscar Hernández caught it at the warning track, but Rogers moved to third, putting runners at the corners with two outs.

Brash walked Spencer Torkelson on five pitches, four of them well enough off the plate to indicate the Mariners were willing to take their chances with Maton.

“It's like, 'How many secondary pitches are they going to throw to him? And what was he going to do with it?'” Hinch said. “Brash obviously has a big, sweeping slider; he goes to the back [leg] with it a lot.

“I think he landed the first one in the strike zone and then it was just kind of the moment was there for Nick.”

The first-pitch slider dropped right in the middle of the zone for strike one. The second one dropped down and in to strike Maton’s right leg and bring home Rogers.

“Wolfie is ready for any and everything,” Baddoo said, praising Maton. “So when it comes to the bases loaded, I want Wolfie up there every day.”

The ball had to sting, but it seemed to linger more with Brash, who -- with the bases still loaded -- walked Andy Ibáñez on four pitches to plate an insurance run.

Maton will continue to get chances to show he can hit, Hinch said. But this time, they’ll gladly take him getting hit.