Tigers enjoy an El Mago-flavored win and even series vs. Dodgers

DETROIT – Javier Báez was asked afterward which was a better catch — the one he made to rob Teoscar Hernandez of a potential tie-breaking extra base hit in the top of the ninth or the one he made just after when his chain broke off his neck.

“The ball is more important in that moment,” Báez said with a grin. “But I have both.”

Báez, in his own inimitable way, helped the Tigers beat the two-time defending champion Dodgers and even the series with a 2-1 victory Saturday, Aug. 28, in front of another sellout crowd (40,022) at Comerica Park.

Tigers' Javier Báez hits a two-run single in the third inning. — Tigers’ Javier Báez hits a two-run single in the third inning.

“Just a sick play,” said rookie Max Clark. “That’s prime Javy right there. Then he comes up and hits a double.”

In a 1-1 game with Tommy Edman on first, Hernandez, a right-handed hitter, smashed a pitch from Kenley Jansen 396 feet to the fence in front of the visitors’ bullpen in left-center field.

Báez, a shortstop by trade, a center fielder secondly and now playing left field for the first time in his career, got a quick jump and tracked the ball at full speed to the fence. Clark was converging, too, but Báez had a bead on it and Clark gave way.

“He was shifted, too, and that came at a weird angle,” Clark said. “If I’m 40 feet into right-center, he’s pulled over into left-center, almost into center field. And it was hit right over his head. That’s a tough read. When hitters flush a ball like that it’s usually a homer.

“It was hit so deep. That’s a lot of space to cover.”

Báez said he and Clark have worked out their own communication device. Báez instructed Clark, who is the captain of the outfield when he’s in center, to make “sss-sss-sss” sound when he’s calling for the ball. That distinguishes it from anything a fan or a teammate may call out.

“I told Max, he’s got everything out there,” Báez said. “But he was playing in the other gap. We’ve been really good at communicating and positioning. I just went for it. Got a good first step and I got it. … I tell him when he’s going after it, to call for the ball differently. Make a different sound and then I will get out of the way.

“He didn’t make that sound.”

Báez said his biggest worry, once the catch (of the ball and the chain) were secure, was getting back into the dugout and up to the plate before the pitch clock ran out.

“Oh man, that is my biggest fear,” he said. “To get a strike called without a pitch. I almost called time.”

Báez managed not only to make the long run in from the outfield, catch his breath and get into the box, he also started the bottom of the ninth with a double into the left-field corner off lefty reliever Jack Dreyer. That set the stage for rookie Kevin McGonigle’s walk-off ground rule single.

“I was happy I was able to come up in a big spot like that and I’m super proud I was able to come through for the guys in this clubhouse,” said McGonigle, who was in an 0-for-16 skid before that at-bat. “It was all because of those guys getting on and putting me in a good spot to win a baseball game.”

After losing 11 of the last 13, winning a baseball game felt refreshing.

“Where are we going to put Javy next,” manager AJ Hinch said with a smile. “The ball will find him and he’s going to find a way to make plays. He is such an instinctual player and he pays attention. Instinctual players just find a way. And that’s about as far as it gets to get in and lead off, and then he hits a double and scores the winning run.

“That was a good win for us. A lot of fun things.”

It started with Keider Montero matching zeroes with Dodgers’ two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. Snell struck out 10 in five innings, allowing a run on a ground-rule double by Gleyber Torres in the third inning.

Montero, given 10 days between starts to ease some of the arm fatigue he was dealing with after pitching a career-high number of innings, was brilliant for five innings, allowing only a single and a walk.

His command was impressively sharp given the extra days off. He walked one and threw 17 first-pitch strikes to the 21 batters he faced.

“I felt pretty satisfied with that,” Montero said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “Even though I had an outing off, I kept doing my job. I still did all my bullpens and everything worked well. I know they are an aggressive team and a really good team and I’m glad I did what I could to make them get themselves out.”

In the sixth, though, Alek Thomas led off with an opposite-field double and went to third on a ground out by Shohei Ohtani. Freddie Freeman’s lined single to right tied the score.

After lefty Tyler Holton ended the sixth with a clutch 6-4-3 double-play with the bases loaded, rookie Andrew Sears, in his second big-league appearance, pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball before handing it over to Jansen in the ninth.

Again, though, the talk afterward was centered on Báez.

“I don’t think anyone understands how tough that is,” McGonigle said. “Playing infield his whole career and then going out to the outfield and doing what he’s doing, it’s really special. And it’s kind of weird. Every time a ball is hit to him, I know he’s going to make a play and you wouldn’t necessarily think that about a guy who hasn’t played outfield his whole career.”

Clark chuckled about the fact that Báez not only caught Hernandez’s drive, but also his chain in almost the same motion.

“He doesn’t let anything drop,” Clark said. “That’s Javy. El Mago.”

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers enjoy an El Mago-flavored win and even series vs. Dodgers

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