Flamethrower Casey Mize puts up zeros as Detroit Tigers smoke Minnesota Twins, 12-3

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-3, on Wednesday at Lee Health Sports Complex.

The Tigers are 16-8-3 in Grapefruit League play.

What happened

Right-hander Casey Mize finished his start in style.

Mize, who owns a 2.35 ERA across 15⅓ innings in five appearances, struck out back-to-back batters with fastballs for his final two outs in the fifth inning. Willi Castro, a switch-hitter batting from the left side, struck out swinging on an up-and-away 96.6 mph fastball; Manuel Margot, batting from the right side, struck out looking on a down-and-away 97.7 mph fastball.

"I feel like I could keep going," Mize said. "I feel like I could go more than five up-downs. Being able to go get that (velocity) tells me that I'll always have that in my back pocket. Runner on first there, but even in tougher situations, I can get some velocity and still execute a pitch at a high level. It definitely feels good."

Mize walked a batter and recorded two outs before right-handed reliever Alex Faedo replaced him and finished the fifth inning. Faedo, who is competing for one of the final spots in the bullpen, completed the sixth inning, as well.

Faedo retired all four batters he faced.

"It's going to go down to the wire with these guys," manager A.J. Hinch said, discussing Faedo in the bullpen battle. "We'll make the decision at the last possible moment, given how well everybody's pitching and how things can change at a moment's notice. But he's very much in the mix."

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The Tigers scored one run in the first inning, four runs in the second inning, three runs in the fourth inning, one run in the sixth inning and three runs in the ninth inning. Twins right-hander Louie Varland surrendered eight of those runs on nine hits and three walks — without a strikeout — across four innings.

Kerry Carpenter's RBI single put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.

Starting off

Mize showcased a dominant four-seam fastball.

The command of his slider was questionable, but his high-velocity fastball shredded the Twins. The 26-year-old tossed 4⅔ scoreless innings on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts, throwing 44 of 70 pitches for strikes.

Mize generated just six whiffs on 30 swings, but he generated four whiffs with his fastball. He didn't get any swings and misses with his splitter, but that didn't bother him because of the pitch location.

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"I was really pleased with my splitter," Mize said. "I don't even think I got swing and miss, but I was able to put the ball in the zone a lot more. Something we've talked about is trying to get more swings in general on that pitch. Swing and miss is what we're chasing, but making guys commit to swinging at that is probably the first step. I was able to do that a lot."

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Still, Mize dominated with his fastball.

He struck out Edouard Julien (called strike, 95.3 mph fastball) in the first inning, Carlos Santana (swinging strike, 95.3 mph fastball) in the fourth inning and Castro (swinging strike, 96.6 mph fastball) and Margot (called strike, 97.7 mph fastball) in the fifth inning.

"He was in attack mode from the very beginning," Hinch said. "Maybe even trying to do a little too much early, but he settled in nicely. He had multiple pitches every inning, and he held his stuff all the way into the fifth. That was a really good outing for him and certainly everything that we had hoped for."

Mize threw 51% fastballs.

His fastball averaged 94.8 mph and maxed out at 97.7 mph.

"I've never had this confidence to be able to throw this pitch this much," Mize said, "so I kind of shy away from it at times. ... I don't know how many times I've thrown three fastballs in a row in a game prior to now. I feel good about it and probably need to use it a little bit more."

At the plate

The Tigers recorded four singles, one walk and one sacrifice fly with their first six batters in the second inning. Ryan Kreidler hit an RBI single with the bases loaded, Zach McKinstry delivered the sacrifice fly, and Matt Vierling drove in two runs with his ground-ball single into left field.

Carpenter, though, grounded into a double play on a hard-hit bouncer back to the pitcher to end the second inning.

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Vierling tacked on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning for a 6-0 lead, followed by Carson Kelly's two-run home run to make it 8-0. Kelly, hitting .290 with two homers in spring training, turned on a first-pitch fastball from Varland and sent the ball 399 feet to left-center field.

The Tigers already like Kelly's pitch calling as a catcher, and now, the eight-year MLB veteran is seeing power results on offense from new swing mechanics implemented in the offseason.

"He's a very big part of what we're doing," Hinch said of Kelly, once viewed as the backup catcher to Jake Rogers. "When I call it a catching tandem, I say that on purpose. He's going to play a lot, and Jake's going to play a lot. Offensively, Carson is doing a nice job contributing something every day he plays. The stuff he's done behind the plate has been a very good step forward since September with (catching coach Ryan) Sienko. That's why we kept him."

The Tigers scored their ninth run on Vierling's solo home run to right field against left-handed reliever Steven Okert's fastball. Vierling finished 2-for-2 with one walk and four RBIs.

Josh Crouch, a catcher from minor-league camp, crushed an inside 97.3 mph fastball from right-handed reliever Jorge Alcala for a three-run home run in the ninth inning, extending the Tigers' lead to 12-1.

On the mound

After Mize and Faedo, left-handed reliever Joey Wentz — also competing for one of the final spots in the bullpen — gave up the first run of the game to the Twins in the seventh inning.

Ryan Jeffers hit a middle-middle fastball for a solo home run.

"I know Wentz gave up the homer," Hinch said, "but I thought he had a really good fastball."

Wentz struck out two batters in the seventh inning, sending down Royce Lewis (swinging strike, 96.3 mph fastball) and Castro (called strike, 95.4 mph fastball). He also sent down back-to-back batters in the eighth on ground balls. Wentz threw 18 of 25 pitches for strikes.

Right-handed reliever Miguel Díaz finished the eighth inning. He allowed two runs in the ninth inning but finished the game.

Three stars

1. Mize, 2. Vierling, 3. Kelly.

Next up

Thursday (1:05 p.m.) vs. New York Mets in Lakeland.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Next up: Mets

Matchup: Tigers (16-8) vs. N.Y. Mets (8-14), Grapefruit League exhibition.

First pitch: 1:05 p.m. Thursday; Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, Florida.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-AM (1270).

Probable pitchers: Tigers — RHP Matt Manning (1-0, 3.75 ERA); Twins — RHP Dominic Hamel (0-0, 0.00).

Opening Day: March 28 at Chicago White Sox; 4:10 p.m.; BSD.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Casey Mize puts up zeros as Detroit Tigers smoke Minnesota Twins, 12-3