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Wenceel Pérez makes up for flub with big bunt in Detroit Tigers' 4-3 win over LA Dodgers
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- Wenceel Pérez makes up for flub with big bunt in Detroit Tigers' 4-3 win over LA Dodgers
Sometimes, it's better to receive than to give.
Detroit Tigers rookie Wenceel Pérez , whose mistake on defense gifted three runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the top of the first inning, received a gift of his own in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Dodgers reliever Yohan Ramírez picked up Pérez's bunt down the third-base line and threw the ball past the third baseman.
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The Tigers beat the Dodgers, 4-3, in Sunday's series finale — winning two of three games — on a series of hits and errors to improve to eight wins in their past 10 games, and 10 wins in their past 14 games.
"It's amazing," Pérez said. "We fight always until the end. It's always a pleasure to contribute to the team win. It doesn't matter what happened in the first inning. Like the bunt, you have to execute plays when it matters."
Detroit Tigers right fielder Wenceel Pérez (46) celebrates with teammates after his bunt scored the game-winning run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Sunday, July 14, 2024.
The bunt from Pérez advanced Justyn-Henry Malloy , a fellow rookie, to third base, then the throwing error from Ramírez allowed Malloy to score the winning run.
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"We have really good players here," said Pérez, hitting .261 with a .712 OPS in 77 games. "We're getting better every day, trying to adjust to the game and the pitchers. We're trying to play all together and have fun as much as we can. As soon as that happened, we've had a lot of wins like that."
The Tigers (47-50) enter the All-Star break — Monday through Thursday — having won two of three games over the Dodgers, two straight series against division leaders and three straight series overall.
There are 65 games until the end of the regular season.
"Our guys are gassed," manager A.J. Hinch said. "These have been pretty emotional games. The break is coming at a good time. But I'm very proud of our group, both through the tough times and this nice stretch."
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The Tigers trailed, 3-2, entering the bottom of the ninth inning.
Zach McKinstry , a left-handed hitter facing the franchise that selected him in the 33rd round of the 2016 draft, opened the ninth with a triple down the right-field line off a two-strike sweeper from the right-handed Ramírez.
"I hit second base, put my head down and ran as hard as I could," McKinstry said.
"After that, we got fired up," Pérez said.
That brought Malloy to the plate in a pinch-hit situation in the 33rd game of his MLB career. He redirected a sweeper inside the strike zone for a line-drive single into center field, bringing McKinstry home for a 3-3 tie.
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Ryan Vilade , another rookie, popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt, but instead of Ramírez catching the ball, it bounced off his leg and rolled into foul territory, allowing Vilade to reach safely and Malloy to advance into scoring position.
The Tigers bunted again.
This time, Pérez dropped down a sacrifice on an elevated first-pitch fastball. He bunted the ball down the third-base line, and while Ramírez fielded the ball cleanly as Malloy dashed for third base, he threw it wide of the third baseman and deep into foul territory.
Malloy scored easily for a 4-3 victory.
"I feel like every team wants to go into the break with some momentum to take into the second half," Malloy said. "To be able to do that, especially off two really exciting games, obviously, we'd much rather not have it be that tight, but we'll take them as we can get them."
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Kenta Maeda finds relief
Right-hander Kenta Maeda, who pitched for the Dodgers from 2016-19, jogged out of the bullpen to open the fourth inning, making his first appearance since being removed from the Tigers' starting rotation as a result of a 7.26 ERA in 16 starts.
The 36-year-old faced the minimum 11 batters in 3⅔ scoreless innings, with five strikeouts.
"With all the bad outcomes, I decided to just turn the page, give it a fresh and new start and focus and concentrate on getting the guys out, each hitter that I'm facing," Maeda said in Japanese through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "I think I was able to do that, and it turned out to be a good result."
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Sunday, July 14, 2024.
Shohei Ohtani was the only Dodger to reach base against Maeda, ripping a single past McKinstry at shortstop with two outs in the fifth inning. But catcher Carson Kelly threw out Ohtani trying to steal second base.
Maeda struck out five batters along the way: Miguel Rojas (looking, 92.6 mph fastball) in the fourth inning, Chris Taylor (looking, 93.5 mph fastball) and James Outman (swinging, 83.4 mph slider) in the fifth inning, Freddie Freeman (swinging, 81.2 mph slider) and Teoscar Hernández (swinging, 83 mph slider) in the sixth inning.
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His primary three pitches — fastball, splitter, slider — looked sharp at the same time for multiple innings for the first time in the 2024 season.
Maeda generated 11 whiffs on 28 swings (39.3% whiff rate) with three splitters, two fastballs and six sliders. His fastball averaged 92.9 mph (up from 90.3 mph) and maxed out at 94.1 mph, while his splitter averaged 85.9 mph (up from 83.6 mph) and his slider averaged 83.3 mph (up from 82 mph).
"When things weren't going well, I was too mindful of the shapes of the pitches and how it broke and things like that," Maeda said, "but today, I focused on letting it rip and using my full arm action, and I think that led to the sharpness and the velocity of my pitches."
His ERA dropped from 7.26 to 6.88 in his 17th game.
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The Tigers signed Maeda to a two-year, $24 million contract in November 2023, paying him $14 million in 2024 and $10 million in 2025.
Wenceel Pérez's costly mistake
The Dodgers scored all three of their runs in the first inning.
It was a 27-pitch first inning for right-handed reliever Beau Brieske , who started the bullpen-only game, but Brieske should have been able to send down the Dodgers in order.
"We don't always execute perfectly," Hinch said. "Go see the first inning if you want to replay it. It wasn't great for us, and we opened the door for them, but we know we have 27 outs left of our own. The morale around here is always good."
Detroit Tigers right fielder Wenceel Pérez (46) drops a fly ball off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) in the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Sunday, July 14, 2024.
The first three batters: Ohtani (lineout), Will Smith (double) and Freeman (flyout). On Smith's double, the ball deflected off Pérez's wrist while he tried to make the catch in shallow right field for the second out.
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The mistake from Pérez — ruled a double, not a fielding error — ultimately extended the first inning, allowing the Dodgers to score three runs on Hernández's RBI double, Andy Pages ' RBI single and a rundown in which Pages scored from third base before Rojas was tagged out between first and second base.
Trailing 3-0, left-handed reliever Tyler Holton replaced Brieske for the second and third innings before giving way to Maeda in his first relief appearance this season.
The Tigers, meanwhile, scored their first two runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Gio Urshela delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth, scoring Colt Keith ; McKinstry plated a run with a force out in the sixth, scoring Riley Greene .
Keith finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers deliver another rally, this time with bunts, in 4-3 win
