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Detroit
Tigers'
Javier
Baez
connects
for a
walk-off
single
to right
field
during
the
ninth
inning
of a
baseball
game
against
the
Chicago
White
Sox,
Friday,
April 8,
2022, in
Detroit.
(AP
Photo/Carlos
Osorio) |
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Detroit
Tigers'
Javier
Baez is
surrounded
by
teammates
after a
walk-off
single
during
the
ninth
inning
of a
baseball
game
against
the
Chicago
White
Sox,
Friday,
April 8,
2022, in
Detroit.
(AP
Photo/Carlos
Osorio) |
| |
El Mago
thrills
teammates
and fans
with
off-the-wall
walk-off
By HB
Meeks
tellusdetroit.com
DETROIT
–
Opening
Day
could
not have
been
more
exciting
for
Tiger
fans
than the
ninth-inning
drive
from
Javier
Báez
into the
right-field
wall as
the game
was
heading
towards
extra
innings.
He was
not
expecting
the
pending
results.
The
Tigers
and fans
started
celebrating
once
they
realized
what
happened,
and
after
the game
umpire
announced
the
reversal
of the
call
that
would
seal an
Opening
Day win
for the
home
team.
“I'm
going to
swing
hard,”
Báez
said.
“Sometimes
I'm
going to
control
it
better
than the
first
two
at-bats,
but I'm
going to
swing
hard.”
Austin
Meadows,
standing
on third
base
with the
potential
winning
run,
said,
"It was
weird
because
I hit
home,
and I
didn't
realize.
I
thought
he was
out. I
didn't
know.
And then
I saw
everybody
cheer in
the
dugout,
and then
[manager]
A.J. [Hinch]
came
over and
said,
'Did you
touch
home
plate?'
And I
was
like, 'I
think I
did.'"
The
Tigers
got
their
first
hit of
the
season
when
Jonathan
Schoop
doubled
to
left-center
after
Miguel
Cabrera
led off
the
second
inning
with a
strikeout
on a 3-2
pitch.
Akil
Baddoo
followed
by
striking
out on a
pitch in
the dirt
before
Spencer
Torkelson
popped
up to
first in
his
first
career
at-bat,
stranding
Schoop
at
second
as the
Tigers
headed
to the
third
inning
trailing
the
White
Sox,
3-0.
After an
early
lead,
White
Sox
starter
and
right-hander
Lucas
Giolito
left the
game
against
the
Tigers
with
soreness
in his
abdomen.
‘‘We’re
definitely
going to
have to
replace
him with
someone,’’
manager
Tony La
Russa
said.
‘‘We
just
can’t
wait.
‘‘Optimistically,
maybe he
will
miss a
couple
of
starts.
We’re
going to
miss
him.’’
Reliever
Jacob
Barnes
saw it
from the
television
in the
Tigers
clubhouse,
having
just
finished
his work
after
pitching
the
eighth.
In his
Detroit
debut,
lefty
Eduardo
Rodriguez
started
the game
by
striking
out
Pollock
before
giving
up a
pair of
two-out
walks
and
allowing
a run on
Eloy
Jiménez’s
single.
The
White
Sox took
a 3-0
lead in
the
second
inning
with
more
two-out
runs on
Pollock’s
single
and Luis
Robert’s
double.
Rodriguez
gave up
four
hits,
struck
out two
and
walked
two in
four
innings
in his
first
game
after
signing
a $70
million
contract.
White
Sox
outfielder
AJ
Pollock
left the
team’s
game
against
the
Tigers
Saturday
with
tightness
in his
right
hamstring.
After
reaching
first
base on
a single
against
right-hander
Case
Mize in
the
third
inning —
his
fourth
hit of
the
season —
Pollock
grabbed
the back
of his
right
leg as
he
returned
to
first.
He is
being
further
evaluated,
the team
said.
Pollock
was
replaced
by
Andrew
Vaughn
as a
pinch
runner
and in
right
field.
Game
Two:
Chicago
plans to
start
RHP
Dylan
Cease
(against
Detroit
RHP
Casey
Mize on
Saturday.
Mize,
the No.
1
overall
pick in
2018, is
looking
forward
to
facing
the
defending
division
champions
in his
season
debut.
“They’re
on top
right
now and
we’re
going to
go after
them,”
he said.
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