DETROIT -- The first pitch that Jace Jung saw as a Major League hitter was a Gerrit Cole cutter that darted in on his hands, forcing him to jump away. It’s the kind of pitch that can help a reigning Cy Young winner establish his territory around the plate. Jung stepped out of the box, adjusted his batting helmet and dug back in.

“I don’t think he’s going to back down from anyone,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Jung after the Tigers’ 3-0 loss to the Yankees on Friday night at Comerica Park. “I think the first guy he backs down from will be the first guy he’s ever backed down from. I think it’s in his DNA. He’s grown up not really dreaming of this place as [much as] expecting this place. He has an edge to him and an integrity that’s impressive for a young player.

“He believes he belongs here, and that’s a good first step.”

That’s a bit of the little brother in him. Jace grew up three years behind Josh Jung, followed in his footsteps at Texas Tech, then as a first-round pick in the MLB Draft. He was in the stands when Josh went to the All-Star Game last summer, and again at the World Series last October. When the Tigers moved Jace to third base, he followed Josh to the hot corner. He followed Josh into the big leagues, and even followed him into the box against Cole, who pitched against Josh and the Rangers last weekend.

“It's truly incredible,” Josh Jung told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry. “I’m super happy for him. I know it's been a long journey and a long ride, and he's got to see me play in the big leagues for a year and a half now. So now he gets to start making his mark.”

So when Jace Jung got the word from Triple-A Toledo manager Tim Federowicz on Thursday to pack his bags and head to Detroit, his first call went to … his parents, of course. His next call went to his brother.

“He was like, ‘You got anything for me?’ I said, ‘Just relax. Don't try to do too much,’” Josh said. “And then obviously he wanted the scouting report that I had done on Gerrit Cole, so that was pretty cool, because now we kind of get the game, playing the same pitchers. So we can have that dialogue for the first time.”

What was the scouting report?

“He told me to stay on the heater,” Jace said. “So I tried.”

Six days after Josh went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Cole (once on the fastball), Jace battled Cole for 17 pitches across three plate appearances. After that first pitch on the hands, he declined to chase out of a 1-2 hole, neither the curveball in the dirt nor back-to-back fastballs off the plate. He was rewarded with a seven-pitch walk to begin his career.

“He’s going to walk because he knows the strike zone,” Hinch said. “He battles; I think we saw that in the spring, the demeanor, the approach. He’s unafraid to swing. He’s not a passive guy by any means, and I think when you can have the right combination of aggressiveness early – which he has – and knowledge of the strike zone and discipline to take tough pitches, especially with two strikes, the byproduct’s going to be better pitches to hit in the beginning of the at-bat and some walks when guys misfire. Those are mature at-bats.”

Jung didn’t swing at all in his next plate appearance, taking five pitches. Only one was in the zone, and he earned his second walk. He danced off first base as Cole faced Justyn-Henry Malloy, creeping further from the bag until his instincts told him to go on the 0-2 pitch.

His heart was racing with his legs.

“I said, ‘Oh God, make it,’” Jung laughed. “I didn’t make it. … It was fun, though. I had a blast running to second base.”

Initially, Jung was ruled safe. After the Yankees challenged the call, Jung saw the replay on the giant video board and wondered whether to stay on the bag.

It would not be the only close call that didn’t go his way. His sixth-inning battle with Cole lasted five pitches and the ace spotted a 96 mph heater that nicked the top outside corner to escape a two-on, two-out jam. It was around the same spot that Yankees closer Clay Holmes spotted a sweeper for another called third strike against Jung in the ninth, leading to hitting coach Michael Brdar’s ejection from the dugout by home-plate umpire Cory Blaser.

Jung made his few plays in the field. He’s still looking for his first hit, but his edge is clearly set.