Detroit Tigers pitcher Reese Olson records first win in 2-1 victory over Toronto Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers right-hander Reese Olson loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning of Saturday's game, a product of two singles and one walk. The situation brought Justin Turner, a 16-year MLB veteran, to the plate.
Olson, a 24-year-old in his second MLB season, threw four sinkers in a row to Turner, then got the experienced hitter to chase a fifth-pitch changeup located down and away for a swinging strikeout. He escaped the bases-loaded jam.
The Tigers supported Olson and finally helped him achieve his first personal win of the season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, in the third of four games in the series at Comerica Park.
"It's good to get a win," Olson said, "but I'm not worried about it. I'm just trying to do my job every time I go out there."
Olson has a 1.92 ERA with 19 walks and 47 strikeouts across 56⅓ innings in 10 starts this season, though his personal record is 1-5 due to a lack of run support. He has a 0.77 ERA in his past six starts, a stretch of 35 innings.
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"We like run support," said catcher Jake Rogers, who finished 2-for-3 at the plate. "Reese has been begging for it. We finally got it today and got him a win. We love scoring early. It's hard for teams to get punched early and bounce back."
The Tigers (25-27) have won back-to-back games in their City Connect uniforms, embracing the superstition. They will wear their City Connect uniforms Sunday for the third game in a row, seeking their third win in a row.
"Believe it, yup," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I don't know if it's the reason, but we're not going to test it."
Pitching prowess
In the third inning, Olson gave up a one-out triple to Kevin Kiermaier, but he worked around the runner at the hot corner by striking out Davis Schneider and getting Turner to ground out. In the sixth, Olson sent down Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer in order, all with groundouts.
The Blue Jays had more than one runner on base for the second time in the seventh inning because Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked and Ernie Clement reached safely on a missed catch error by first baseman Mark Canha.
The Tigers replaced Olson with right-handed reliever Alex Faedo.
Faedo used a middle-in fastball to get Kiermaier to pop out, but he gave up a two-strike, two-out double to Schneider. The double cut the Blue Jays' deficit to 2-1, and once again, Turner stepped to the plate in a key situation.
But Turner grounded out on Faedo's slider with two runners in scoring position, ending the seventh inning.
Olson allowed one run (zero earned runs) on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts across 6⅓ innings, throwing 93 pitches. For most of his outs, Olson limited hard contact and induced a lot of ground balls.
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He threw 33 sinkers, 29 sliders, 16 changeups, 12 fastballs and three curveballs. He generated eight whiffs on 37 swings — a 21.6% whiff rate — with one sinker, three sliders, three changeups and four fastballs.
"Getting in on righties," Rogers said of Olson's sinker usage. "That's the big thing with him. He throws a good sinker, so getting in on righties helps his breaking balls and changeups down and away. It gets them off everything away. Pitching in is a huge plus. When you can do that, it frees up everything."
"I back-doored it to righties early in counts," Olson said of his sinker, "and then as the game went on, we got in there with it, in off the plate. It just keeps them honest, and if they swing at it, it's going to be a ground ball."
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A Carpenter with very good tools
The Tigers only needed two runs to beat the Blue Jays.
Those runs came in the first inning, when Kerry Carpenter turned on a changeup from right-hander José Berríos for a two-run home run to right field. The table was set for Carpenter by Canha's double to left field.
Both hits occurred with two outs.
It was Carpenter's second home run in as many days.
"Huge swing from Carp there," Olson said. "And then, me and Rog were on a good pace today. He called a great game."
Berríos, who owns a 2.94 ERA, allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in seven innings, throwing 83 pitches. He didn't issue a walk, and aside from the first inning, he kept the Tigers from scoring despite some pressure on the bases.
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Finishing strong
After Olson and Faedo, the Tigers turned to right-handed reliever Jason Foley to navigate the most important opposing hitters in the eighth inning.
Guerrero hit a leadoff single, but Bichette grounded into a double play and Springer grounded out.
When Foley got the job done, the Tigers went to left-handed reliever Tyler Holton in the ninth inning. He maneuvered around a one-out double from Kiner-Falefa, including a game-ending strikeout against pinch-hitter Danny Jansen, to protect the one-run lead.
Jansen stuck out swinging on a fifth-pitch changeup after throwing four cutters in a row.
"Holton knows part of his job is to get righties out," Hinch said, "whether it's because they pinch-hit or even when we put him in the lineup where we're also going to neutralize their lefties. The cutter is really key for him against this team and against most teams."
It marked Holton's first save of the season and the second save of his 87-game career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Next up: Blue Jays
Matchup: Tigers (25-27) vs. Toronto (23-28).
First pitch: 11:35 a.m. Sunday; Comerica Park, Detroit.
TV/radio: Roku (streaming only); WXYT-FM (97.1).
Probable pitchers: Tigers — RHP Casey Mize (1-3, 4.57 ERA); Blue Jays — LHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-4, 2.64).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Reese Olson records first win as Detroit Tigers beat Blue Jays, 2-1
