Tigers use masterful defense as prelude to 4-run rally in 9th

PITTSBURGH -- Matt Vierling didn’t like his chances. But like the Tigers, he gave himself an opportunity at the end.

He saw Edward Olivares’ eighth-inning drive off the bat and thought he might be retrieving it off the base of the wall. But with each step into left-center field, he talked himself into it, like he did on Jared Triolo’s drive to right-center an inning earlier.

“I feel like that’s usually how it goes,” he said. “It’s like, ‘I don’t know if I have a chance.' And then as you’re running under it, you’re kinda like, ‘OK, I’ve got a chance at this,’ and you do everything you can to get to it. The one to left field, until I got about 75 percent of the way there, I didn’t think I was going to catch it.”

It was a microcosm of the Tigers’ Tuesday afternoon at PNC Park. But at least Statcast gave Vierling a 50 percent chance of catching the ball on Olivares’ 105.5 mph drive off Shelby Miller. That was great compared to their chances of escaping PNC Park with a 5-3 win.

When Riley Greene led off the ninth inning against Pirates All-Star closer David Bednar, Statcast tabbed the Tigers’ win probability at 7.1 percent. His five-pitch walk moved their chances to 14.4 percent.

Spencer Torkelson’s hit-by-pitch moved them up to 26.1 percent, with Zach McKinstry pinch-running as the tying run on first.

By the time the dust had settled from Gio Urshela’s RBI single, McKinstry’s daring run from first to third, Michael A. Taylor’s errant throw from center field and McKinstry’s stroll home, the Tigers had tied the game, put the go-ahead run in scoring position and were on their way to pulling a getaway-day heist on the Pirates.

Even with the Tigers’ penchant for late-inning rallies, this one was wild. It was also an argument that Detroit’s best offense right now is their outstanding defense.

“It's great that we can do that,” said Greene, whose leaping catch at the left-field wall robbed Ke’Bryan Hayes of a two-run homer in the fifth inning. “We work hard at it every single day.”

The Tigers produced actual offense at the bookends of Tuesday’s defensive clinic: Three hits and a run in their first four batters against off Pirates starter Martín Pérez, then three hits in a four-run ninth off Bednar. Their defense was a constant, but especially for Tigers starter Casey Mize in his second outing back from Tommy John and back surgeries.

“Our defense kept us in it,” Mize said.

Mize allowed two runs on five hits, including the first of Edward Olivares’ two homers, in five innings on a day when his fastball reached 98.4 mph, but he had just two strikeouts and seven swinging strikes over 83 pitches.

Javier Báez prevented a third-inning run with a diving stop up the middle on Triolo, denying a leadoff baserunner ahead of a Bryan Reynolds double and Hayes RBI double.

In the fifth, Colt Keith’s ranging grab and whirling throw to second for a forceout meant Hayes stepped to the plate with two outs and one runner on instead of two. Greene’s highlight catch on Mize’s final pitch sent Hayes back with nothing.

Greene, who missed the final month of last season with an elbow injury suffered on a diving catch, talked before the game about knowing the right situation to risk the body going after a ball. Hayes’ drive was it. Greene wasn’t sure if it was headed over the wall, but he didn’t want to find out.

“Off the bat, I knew it was hit pretty well,” Greene said. “Two outs, runner on first, really didn't want that guy going first to home, so I played a little deeper and he hit it out there. Got back to the wall and I didn't realize I was that far away from it, so I jumped. I thought I was going to hit it earlier than I did.”

Greene fell into the wall as he corralled Hayes’ 390-foot drive.

“He just gave his body up and made an awesome play,” Mize said. “Difference in the game.”

Said Greene: “I caught it; that's all that matters.”

Without those plays, the Tigers would’ve been well on their way to a fourth straight loss. With those plays, they went into the ninth with a chance. The difference was evident as players headed home for a badly needed off-day.

“Plays like that are like energy shots,” Vierling said. “Not saying it was the reason, but I think it definitely helped.”