Stephen Kolek likely to start Thursday vs. Rays

As a team, the Tigers couldn’t do anything against Reid Detmers and company throughout the ballgame, They finally got something going against Kirby Yates in the ninth though as Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch and Riley Greene worked a one-out walk. Down to their final out, Lee smoked a ball into the gap in right-center, plating both runs and putting the Tigers ahead to stay. The rookie infielder finished the night 1-for-4 and is now hitting .255/.288/.392 with four homers and 17 RBI in 161 plate appearances on the season.

Montero came on to relieve Troy Melton with two outs in the sixth inning and the Tigers trailing 1-0. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the ninth, where he started the inning by hitting Jorge Soler before allowing a single to Jose Siri. He battled back though, getting Jo Adell on a pop out to second and Oswald Peraza on a ground out to third before retiring Denzer Guzman on a ground ball to shortstop to end it. Montero punched out five batters in the brilliant outing and didn’t walk a batter. He’s expected to rejoin the rotation next week against the Cubs in Chicago.

Melton scattered four hits and four walks on the evening. The lone tally against him came on a ground out off the bat of Josh Lowe in the opening inning, that could have been an inning-ending double play, but Zach McKinstry was late going over to cover second base. Melton got a whopping 18 swings and misses on 94 pitches on the night — six on his fastball — while posting an elite CSW of 38 percent. He now holds a brilliant 1.80 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and a 50/15 K/BB ratio over 55 innings through his first nine starts on the season. He’ll do battle against the Royals his next time out on Thursday.

Neto led off the game with a single on an 0-2 pitch from Troy Melton. He then scampered home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Josh Lowe, which wound up being the lone tally for either team until the ninth inning. Neto was also thrown out trying to steal in the ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the 25-year-old shortstop is now hitting .237/.328/.453 with 19 homers, 45 RBI and 12 stolen bases (in 21 attempts) on the season.

Yates came on with a 1-0 lead to protect. The 39-year-old hurler made things interesting by plunking Dillon Dingler to open the ninth inning. He then battled back to get Spencer Torkelson on a fly ball to left field before James Outman swiped second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Yates then walked Riley Greene before getting Kerry Carpenter on a fly ball to left field for the second out. Hao-Yu Lee followed with a two-run double that gave the Tigers their first lead of the day and put Yates in position for a loss.

Detmers punched out seven opposing hitters on the night and didn’t walk a batter — outdueling Tigers’ right-hander Troy Melton who was terrific in his own right on the other side. Two of the four hits against him went for extra bases, but the Tigers never advanced a runner past second base against him. The 27-year-old southpaw got 12 whiffs on 86 pitches on the night, posting a strong CSW of 33 percent. He’ll look to replicate this fine effort as he carries a 4.16 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 130/35 K/BB ratio (114 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s battle against the Cardinals.

Mitchell was the hero in this extra-innings affair. He delivered the game-winning hit with two-strikes in the 10th inning and made two other fantastic plays in center field to keep this game going just beforehand. It’s just more great baseball for Mitchell who’s in the midst of the best stretch of his career with a .323/.381/.563 slash line over his last 30 games. Also very importantly for Mitchell, his strikeout rate has held firm below 30% over the span which doesn’t sound great, but is lower than his season average by a few percentage points.

It’s so easy to be bullish on Henderson. As usual, his changeup was lethal in this start, forcing five of his six total swings-and-misses while forcing plenty of weak contact. His cutter was also great in terms of generating strikes and quality fastball command kept the whole thing rolling. The Marlins rarely challenged him and he was cruising right along, but the trainers came out to check on him during the fifth inning. He’d stay in to finish that frame which wound up being his last after just 73 pitches. After the game, he mentioned dealing with a forearm cramp and that the team felt it was best to play it safe. Keep an eye on his status ahead of his next scheduled start against the Mets at home.

Conine’s solo home run in the fifth inning stood firm as the Marlins’ only run here. It looked like he’d have another chance in his next at-bat, but was lifted for a pinch-hitter with left-handed Aaron Ashby on the mound. The Marlins have been steadfast with their lefty, righty decisions all season and Conine was a casualty of it here. Alas, he has six home runs and a .909 OPS in 93 plate appearances on the season, almost entirely against right-handed pitchers.

This version of Alcantara is a total bulldog. Sure, he’s not missing bats at a prolific rate anymore and his command in this start was pretty all over the place. Yet, he never gave an inch. The Brewers very rarely squared him up and had 19 total foul balls while Alcantara continued to pepper them with sinkers, four-seamers, and cutters. Also a lost art in this day and age, Alcantara has now at least pitched into the sixth inning in 13 consecutive starts dating back to early May. He’ll take a 3.90 ERA, 107 strikeouts, and 37 walks through a league-leading 136 2/3 innings into his next start against the Astros in Houston.