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And another one bites the dust as the Tigers collected a 5-1 win against the Cubs to close out their series at Wrigley Field.
After a bummer game on Tuesday, the Tigers were hoping to pivot back into winning mode and take the series win against the Cubs. They had Keider Montero on the mound, having moved him back to a starting rotation role, and he was up against Colin Rea for Chicago.
Things started with a whimper rather than a bang as the Tigers went down in order in the top of the first. It got worse in the home half, when Montero gave up a solo home run to Seiya Suzuki with one out. Michael Busch then singled, but Montero was able to work his way out of the jam only giving up the single run.
In the second, the Tigers managed to course correct with style. With one out, Spencer Torkelson hit his own solo home run.
The inning proceeded very much like the previous inning had for the Cubs, as Kerry Carpenter singled, but the Tigers were not able to bring him home. Montero had a nice inning in the bottom of the second, getting the Cubs out in order.
In the top of the third, James Outman got a leadoff single, then Kevin McGonigle singled right behind him, pushing Outman to third. With men on the corners, McGonigle got caught stealing for the first out of the inning. Two more outs followed, killing a pretty good opportunity to score another run. The Cubs went 1-2-3 again in the bottom of the third.
Riley Greene doubled to open the fourth, then Spencer Torkelson drew a walk. With two outs, Hao-Yu Lee homered to left, bringing three runs home.
In the home half, with two outs, Ian Happ doubled after the ball perfectly hit first base and bounced into the air over Torkelson. It would have been an impressive display of physics if it hadn’t been terrible. A strikeout ended the inning, though, so the double didn’t end up hurting.
The Tigers went three-up, three-down in the top of the fifth, but the Cubs did the same in the home half, so it was a draw.
Rea’s game was done after five, replaced by Ryan Rolison, who got the Tigers out in order. In the home half, Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on an error from Montero. After the first out of the inning, Montero’s day was done, he was replaced by Drew Sommers. He induced a double-play off the bat of Busch to end the inning, making Montero’s final line for the night 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HR on 81 pitches. Fantastic outing with the only slip-up being the one home run. Glad to see him back in a starting role.
Gavin Hollowell was the new Cubs pitcher for the seventh and got the Tigers out three-up, three-down. Drew Anderson came in for the Tigers, and Happ hit a one-out single, but the Cubs left him stranded.
The Cubs went back to their bullpen once more for Caleb Thielbar. Dillon Dingler got a one-out single. Two outs would follow, though, leaving him on base. Kyle Finnegan was the new Tigers’ pitcher in the bottom of the inning and after getting two outs, he hit PCA in the toe with a pitch. Finnegan turned around and got Suzuki out, a major out to end the inning.
Tyler Ferguson came in for the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Torkelson. Zach McKinstry hit what should have been a little bloop single, but PCA failed to field it cleanly, allowing McKinstry to get to second and Torkelson to score. It was ruled a double. Two outs then followed but the Tigers had padded their lead.
Kenley Jansen was in for the ninth inning. With two outs, Alex Bregman walked, despite a solid ABS call from Dingler to get the second strike of the at-bat. It didn’t matter at the end of the day, as they got the final out of the inning to win the game and the series.
