Article author:
Reuters
The version of Javier Baez that the Detroit Tigers expected has arrived.
On Saturday night, the Tigers played against Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, and suddenly the hot shortstop went home for three games in a row.
Baez hit a 459-foot grand slam three times on Friday night to help the Tigers win 5-1.
Baez didn't know how far the ball was flying at first, and never celebrated his seventh career grand slam. He was more interested in dealing with the heckler with quiet cues before he began to round the base.
"I turned back and they were just laughing," Baez said after Friday's victory. "It was a matter of competition. As soon as I hit the ball, the first thing that came to my mind was everything else he was saying. It was a lot of fun."
Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch caught the interaction and was not surprised by Baez's reaction.
"Javi doesn't need a lot of motivation," Hinch said. "Jabi loved that moment and it was another big moment for him, and I think he informed his fans."
Baez had six years during the off-season, one. After signing a $ 140 million contract and becoming hitless with four at-bats on June 14, he was terribly unachievable with an average of .188 and three home runs.
He hit .387 (12 to 31) during eight batters, his average has risen 28 points to .216 since then. Baez shoots eight long hits during the stretch, including three doubles and one triple.
Detroit's Miguel Cabrera was an opener 1 to 4. His total career hits were 3,052, one behind Rod Carew and ranked 27th in history.
Victory snapped the Tigers' three-game skid. Detroit has been the third win in the last 12 games.
Meanwhile, Arizona has dropped four consecutive games and five of the last six contests. Diamondbacks recorded only three hits (all singles) over the last long night at the stadium. The
contest made manager Torey Lovullo feel disappointed.
"We couldn't get close to where we wanted," Lovullo said of the game. "We need to understand that."
Diamondbacks was 0-4 with a scoring runner on Friday. They have recorded less than 2 runs in 4 of the last 6 games.
Arizona's right-handed Zach Davies (2-4, 3.96 ERA) aims to stop a seven-start unwinning stretch when standing on the mound on Saturday. increase.
Davis is 0-3 during the span, despite pitching at least 7 innings twice without earned run.
The 29-year-old lost to the San Diego Padres on the final turn after allowing four hits in six innings. He hit two home runs in the setback after he didn't allow anything in the previous three starts.
Davis did not make a decision on his solo career start with the Tigers in 2018 when he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. He gave up 3 runs and 5 hits in 4 innings.
Baez has been hitting .303 (10 to 33) with Homer against Davis since his time in the National League.
Detroit competes with right-handed Alex Faedo (1-4, 4.67). Faed has been 0-3 in the last five starts since defeating the Cleveland Guardians on May 22nd.
The 26-year-old allowed 12 runs (11 points) and 17 runs in just 7 his 1/3 innings. His last two turns. He did not allow more than one run on the outing before the tough stretch.
Faed lost to the Boston Red Sox on Monday, but gave up five runs (4 goals) with eight hits in the 41/3 innings.
– Field-level media