Matt Vierling lives baseball dreams with walk-off home run that saved Detroit Tigers

Matt Vierling left the field at Comerica Park on Sunday covered in baby powder, water, ice and anything else his Detroit Tigers teammates could grab during the mad scramble up the dugout steps.

Through it all, the Tigers' center fielder kept wearing the same smile he had as he circled the bases before getting mobbed.

Vierling hit his first career major league walk-off home run — a rocket over the Little Caesars logo in the left-center field bullpen to give the Tigers a 14-11 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in a wild seesaw game that came down to the final pitch.

"It was awesome," Vierling said, still wearing the same smile in front of his locker postgame. "I mean, it's everything you could think of. I'm just happy that all the boys are fired up and we got a win and a series win."

Vierling had to battle before getting the slider that would eventually end up in the seats, just as the Tigers had to rally back to win after sitting in the driver's seat for most of the afternoon. Vierling took a 97.9 mph fastball from Jordan Romano on the outer half for strike one, followed by two fastballs off the plate. He watched a slider on the outside corner for strike two, then saw a slider in the dirt — Vierling initially offered on the low slider, but held up to work the full count.

"I was kind of looking for it 2-2 as well but it was low and I kind of just went after it, was able to check my swing enough," Vierling said. "The next pitch was the same pitch, just a little more up."

The checked swing set up a scenario that every young boy dreams about growing up, including Vierling and his brother as kids. A 3-2 count, winning run on base, two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the crowd on its feet in anticipation.

And just like it was a dream, Vierling connected perfectly on a slider at the bottom of the zone for a no-doubt home run that left his bat at 105.9 mph and traveled 409 feet, sending the fans into a frenzy.

"Something you always kind of dreamed about as a kid is something like that," Vierling said. "My brother and I in the backyard, we'd always be doing situations like that so it's kind of cool when it actually happens."

The inning began with a leadoff single from first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who went 3-for-5 with a home run, and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Wenceel Pérez. Javier Báez grounded out in the next at-bat, leaving it up to Kerry Carpenter with two outs. Manager A.J. Hinch pinch-hit for Jake Rogers in the eighth inning to bring in Carpenter, who ended up coming up again in the ninth. But, Romano intentionally walked Carpenter in the ninth, flipping the lineup back to Vierling.

"(Carpenter) is swinging a super hot bat and he's an incredible hitter so I can understand why they did that," Vierling said. "But yeah, there's obviously a little human element there that you're kind of like, 'okay, you'd rather face me than him' so there's a little bit of that.

"But more than anything, just trying to calm yourself down in that situation and get the job done."

The Tigers needed every ounce of heroics Sunday to escape with the win and series victory after it seemed like they would be able to cruise without much resistance. They jumped ahead 5-0 in the third inning and then later 8-3 by the fifth inning, but the bullpen gave up eight runs after starter Casey Mize left in the fifth inning, giving the Blue Jays an 11-9 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.

Vierling — who else ― kicked things off with a two-out single. Colt Keith, who subbed in for Andy Ibáñez, poked a sinker out of the zone for a softly hit fly ball down the third base line, which found the perfect patch of grass to drop between defenders for a double, moving Vierling to third.

Mark Canha came up and reached a 2-2 count after fouling off a fastball high, then drove a fastball on the outside half over the second baseman's head to score both runners and tie the game.

"We proved it the whole game," Rogers said of the team's resiliency. "Being up the entire game until the eighth, then they get ahead and we got good hitters coming to the plate. We tie it in the eighth, then win it in the ninth. I think that speaks volumes."

Vierling's go-ahead jack was his second home run of the day and the Tigers' fourth. Vierling was 4-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored while playing center field. Torkelson hit his fourth home run of the season as part of a three-hit day. and Carson Kelly also had a three-run home run. Kelly, Andy Ibáñez, Canha and Báez joined Vierling as Tigers with a multi-RBI game.

"We say it a lot, just stay in the fight," Torkelson said after he snapped an 0-19 drought with his second-inning home run after sitting Saturday. "We have a lot of trust and belief in our guys to get the job done and that's exactly what we did."

The Tigers only found themselves in a nail-biter where they had to put up a season-high in runs on a heroic blast because the pitching fell flat against the Blue Jays. Mize struggled through 4⅓ innings, giving up three runs with no strikeouts. But the Tigers enjoyed a 5-3 lead heading into their at-bats in the fifth and left the inning with an 8-3 edge.

The bullpen had no answers for the Blue Jays, who scored in every inning until the ninth to go up 11-9. Toronto cut the lead to 9-6 entering the eighth inning, and chased Tyler Holton, who gave up a home run in the seventh, with two leadoff singles.

Jason Foley gave up a two-out, two-run single to Bo Bichette, followed by a go-ahead three-run home run from Daulton Varsho. Mason Englert pitched the ninth, producing the only zero-run inning from the bullpen.

"There were a lot of mistakes today but we're going to make you proud with how we stay in and stay fighting," Hinch said.

The Tigers will be looking to take the momentum, and their newfound luck in the City Connect jerseys, into a two-game series Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hinch confirmed after the game they would wear the City Connects again for that series to not mess with the mojo after winning three straight. However they can, the Tigers are looking to bottle the momentum that Vierling's bat helped sustain Sunday.

"We had a tough series that last one, but being able to play against these guys and find a little bit of momentum and kind of riding that — it's pretty good," Vierling said, still grinning. "Hopefully we take that in the next series."

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matt Vierling's lives dream with walk-off HR to save Detroit Tigers