Detroit Tigers' flubs in field hang ineffective Casey Mize out to dry vs. Brewers, 5-4
The Detroit Tigers grabbed an early lead behind a selective-aggressive approach at the plate that produced to a flurry of free passes, but a three-run advantage slowly slipped away as the result of too many mistakes.
The notable miscues from the Tigers occurred in the third and sixth innings, ultimately leading to two key runs. The Tigers lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4, on Saturday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.
Right-hander Casey Mize allowed five runs (three earned runs) on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout in 5⅓ innings, throwing 97 pitches.
"I didn't do a good enough job on the scoreboard," Mize said. "Too many hits, too many runs. I wasn't able to hold the lead for us. I'm obviously disappointed in that."
The 27-year-old recorded just one swing and miss in another underwhelming performance, now at a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts this season. Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, has struggled to miss bats throughout his entire MLB career.
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But two defensive mistakes — not Mize — burned the Tigers (31-33) in their third consecutive loss.
Rookie second baseman Colt Keith was responsible for the mistake in the third inning that led to at least one run; rookie left fielder Justyn-Henry Malloy was responsible for the mistake in the sixth that led to one run.
The Brewers scored two runs in the third, cutting their deficit to 4-3, after Keith was charged with a fielding error for colliding with right fielder Akil Baddoo near the foul line in shallow right field. The next two outs produced the runs with a flyout and a groundout, but if Keith hadn't run into Baddoo, only one run would've scored.
Keith left the game with left knee discomfort.
"The collision is just communication," said manager A.J. Hinch, who didn't provide any update on Keith's health. "The video showed that they both called it. I thought it was Akil's ball all the way, but I haven't seen Colt since he left the field, so I haven't had a chance to talk with him."
The Brewers also scored two runs in the sixth inning, taking a 5-4 lead, when Malloy fielded a double in the gap in left-center field. One runner had already scored, but a second runner ended up scoring because Malloy took too long gathering himself with a slow spin between fielding the ball and throwing the ball to the cutoff man.
The cutoff man, shortstop Javier Báez, nearly threw out Blake Perkins trying to score, but his on-target throw to catcher Carson Kelly was a tad late.
"He did a great job of cutting it off," Hinch said of Malloy, "and then he got the ball to Javy, and Javy threw a ball to Carson that short-hopped Carson, and Carson tagged him. Their speed was really a part of the story of the game, and that was a play where their speed came through. He was safe."
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Casey Mize misses one bat
Somehow, Mize pitched into the sixth inning without an array of effective pitches.
Mize, who benefited from ground-ball outs, recorded just one whiff on 36 swings, for a 2.8% whiff rate. He didn't generate a single whiff on 16 swings against his four-seam fastball, but his fastball induced soft contact.
His secondary pitches weren't competitive.
"I would say so," Mize said, when asked if he's struggling to find consistency with his splitter. "I can say that about a few of my pitches, though, to be honest. I feel like I need to get more comfortable right-on-right, throwing it to righties. I feel like in the past, that's been a good pitch for me, just haven't been as consistent in being able to land that as much. I can say that about a few of my pitches, unfortunately, right now."
The first batter of the game worked a six-pitch walk, advanced to second base on a balk and scored on Christian Yelich's ground-ball single to right field, making it 1-0 Brewers.
The Brewers scored two unearned runs in the third inning, cutting their deficit to 4-3, after Keith's fielding error.
Mize stranded two runners in scoring position in the fifth inning, but the Brewers chased him in the sixth with a leadoff walk and a one-out single.
"That was fine," Mize said of his fastball. "But obviously a lot of contact led to too many hits."
Both runners scored when Jackson Chourio, a 20-year-old rookie, ripped an inside fastball for a two-out, two-RBI double to left-center field off right-handed reliever Shelby Miller, fielded by Malloy in the gap.
The two runs for the Brewers' 5-4 lead in the sixth were charged to Mize's tab. The Brewers had an average exit velocity of 86.7 mph on 22 balls in play against Mize.
Early runs for the Tigers
The Tigers scored four runs in the first two innings against right-hander Freddy Peralta.
Gio Urshela tied the game, 1-1, with an RBI single in the first inning, following back-to-back walks from Riley Greene and Mark Canha. The Tigers then took a 4-1 lead in the second inning with Carson Kelly's RBI single and Canha's two-RBI single.
Peralta allowed four runs (three earned runs) on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts in 3⅓ innings. After the second inning, the Tigers didn't score again and had one hit the rest of the way.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers fumble away lead in 5-4 loss to Milwaukee Brewers
