CINCINNATI _ Spencer Turnbull gave a good ole' rebel yell as he stormed off the mound in the fifth inning Sunday. And why not? He had just struck out his old teammate Nick Castellanos for the third time _ this one though was on three pitches, all swinging, with the bases loaded and two outs in a 1-1 game.
That was a turning point for the Tigers and maybe for Turnbull, too.
After surviving that inning, the Tigers got another clutch, ninth-inning home run _ this one by C.J. Cron off reliever Michael Lorenzen _ to beat the Reds, 3-2, and take the season-opening series at Great American Ball Park.
Miguel Cabrera, who homered off Lorenzen on Saturday, worked a walk after falling behind 0-2 and grinding out a 10-pitch at-bat
For the second day in a row, closer Joe Jimenez got the save, but this was dicey. He gave up back to back doubles to Freddy Galvis and Aristides Aquino (on a slow play by JaCoby Jones in center).
With the tying run at third, the dangerous Joey Votto hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
But go back to that mess in the fifth inning. Situations like that have gotten away from Turnbull in the past.
With one out, he issued a four-pitch walk to No. 8 hitter Travis Jankowski then he got bailed out by a sprinting, leaping catch at the wall in center field by JaCoby Jones, taking at least extra bases away from Curt Casali.
But the baseball gods are fickle. The next two hitters, Jesse Winker and Joey Votto blooped singles into shallow right-center to tie the game. When Turnbull walked Eugenio Suarez in a six-pitch battle, he was at 84 pitches.
He did not rattle, though. After a visit from pitching coach Rick Anderson, Turnbull locked back in and threw three straight sliders, one at 87 mph and two others at 84 and 83 to escape. He had struck out Castellanos twice earlier, once with a high fastball and then with a slider.
Turnbull allowed just three hits, with four walks and punched-out eight.
The Tigers hitters, meanwhile, were battling for their lives against right-hander Trevor Bauer. Niko Goodrum caught a 95-mph fastball in the third inning and lined it into the seats in right field, a 403-foot shot.
Other than a single by Victor Reyes in the fifth, that was all the Tigers got off him. He threw 105 pitches over 6.1 innings and struck out 13. Nine of the last 11 outs Bauer recorded were strikeouts.
The Tigers struck out 13 times Friday, 17 times Saturday and 16 times Sunday _ three games, 27 innings, 46 strikeouts. It's the first time Reds pitchers have started a season with 10-plus strikeouts in three straight games since the mound was moved to its present distance, 60-feet, 6 inches from home plate _ back before the turn of the century, the 20th century.
Still, they managed to win the series.
