ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Manager AJ Hinch said his ballclub wouldn’t sulk, sag or pout after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth Friday night and getting walked-off. He wasn’t lying.
The Tigers came smoking out of the gates Saturday against Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Jeimer Candelario blasted a two-out, three-run home run, 436 feet to dead center field. Catcher Dustin Garneau led off the second inning with a solo shot inside the foul pole in left and the Tigers were up 4-0.
The Rays whittled that lead to a skinny run, but the bullpen did what it couldn't do Friday — it locked it down.
Kyle Funkhouser retired Ji-Man Choi with two on in the eighth and then Michael Fulmer, who was tagged with the three runs and the blown save on Friday night, got his redemption.
He put the first two hitters on — walking Mike Zunino and hitting Joey Wendle. But he struck out Friday night hero Brett Phillips and got a double-play grounder from Yandy Diaz.
Tigers 4, Rays 3.
Scary moment, though, in the fifth inning. The Tigers lost the services of center fielder Derek Hill after he banged his head hard on the artificial turf at Tropicana Field.
Leading off the inning, Hill, the Tigers’ center fielder, dropped a bunt. Running at full speed, he lost his balance crossing the bag at first. He spun and landed on the back of his head.
He lay motionless for several seconds while the Tigers’ training staff tended to him. It wasn’t immediately known if he twisted or hyper-extended his knee on the spin, as well.
He was carted off the field, then wheelchaired through the tunnel underneath the stadium.
It’s the third on-field injury Hill has sustained this season. He sprained his shoulder at Comerica Park in June crashing into the center field wall making a tremendous running catch. Then on Aug. 10, he sustained bruised ribs in a horrific outfield collision with Akil Baddoo.
Rookie Tarik Skubal pitched the first three innings for the Tigers. The only mistake was a 94-mph fastball that he left over the plate to Jordan Luplow in the second inning — two-run home run. Skubal allowed only one other hit.
His streak of consecutive games with at least four strikeouts ended at 22, though. He punched out two. The 22-game streak is the longest by a big league rookie since 1893.
Jose Urena took over in the fourth and gave up one run in 3.1 strong innings. The first batter he faced, Manuel Margot, walked and eventually scored on a double-play grounder by Ji-Man Choi.
Margot, who started the Rays' ninth-inning rally Friday, had three hits and a walk.
Urena struck out four and left with a runner at second and one out in the seventh. Alex Lange cleaned that up and got the Tigers to within six outs of a win.
The Tigers offense shut down after the second inning. Yarbrough, who had been tagged for 14 runs in 4 1/3 innings in his two previous outings in September, retired 13 straight through the sixth.
They did not get another hit, and had just two more base runners, after the second inning.
