00:00Welcome back Tigers fans. If you missed Thursday's matinee in Atlanta you missed a masterclass in
00:06patience pitching and late game thunder. Let's break down exactly how Detroit flipped a quiet
00:11afternoon into a statement 5-2 comeback victory at Truist Park. Frambois Valdez continued to be
00:17the stabilizing force the Tigers desperately need in a rotation hit hard by injuries, including Casey
00:23Mize landing on the injured list Wednesday. The 32-year-old left-hander worked six innings,
00:28surrendering just two runs while striking out eight and walking none. After his pitch count sat
00:32in the 60s through three innings, Valdez locked in, attacking the zone far more efficiently over his
00:37final three frames and retiring the last 10 batters he faced. He generated 21 whiffs with a 36.2%
00:44whiff
00:45rate, a commanding turnaround from his previous start in Cincinnati when he issued five walks over
00:504-1-3 innings. Valdez explained his approach in Spanish. I just told myself to focus on having
00:57discipline in every pitch because they are an aggressive team when it comes to batting and
01:01making contact. It was simply about keeping them below the zone, trying for them to make as little
01:06damage as possible, like they did today and with my team, try to keep the bullpen healthy. Atlanta
01:12tested him early by squaring up his sinker, so Valdez and catcher Jake Rogers adapted, leaning heavily on
01:18the curveball and change-up to keep the Braves off balance. He kind of realized that sometimes it takes
01:24maybe a walk or something to go, hey look I gotta dial it back in. When he trusts his stuff,
01:29he's on,
01:30I mean, it's just so hard to hit, Rogers said. He has 20 inches of vertical movement on the curveball,
01:36so just throw it in the zone. He did a great job. Valdez threw 99 pitches, mixing his arsenal late.
01:44I used the change-up and used the curve a lot along with my cutter. I only threw the sinker
01:49to show it.
01:49I stayed with the cutter down to get strikeouts and groundouts. Detroit's offense was quiet early
01:54but began chipping away in the sixth. Matt Veerling singled on a fly ball to deep right field,
02:00scoring Riley Green from second after Green worked a walk earlier in the inning. The rally truly ignited
02:05in the eighth. Kerry Carpenter sparked it with a triple on a sharp fly ball to center. Veerling
02:10followed immediately, lining a double into left on a first-pitch 83 Mepsch sweeper. How you Lee,
02:15then drew a walk from reliever Joel Payamps, which prompted a pitching change to Aaron Bummer.
02:20With one out, Kevin McGonagall worked a walk to load the bases, and Gleyber Torres lifted a
02:25sacrifice fly that brought Veerling home, giving Detroit its first lead of the afternoon.
02:30We gave ourselves a ton of opportunities, manager A. Jay Hinch said,
02:35It felt like we had pressure on them every inning or most innings, and then we finally broke through a
02:39little bit and got in, got some back-to-back, good at-bats with runners in scoring position or guys
02:44on
02:44base. The ninth inning added insurance in impressive fashion. After Detroit's first two hitters struck
02:50out, pinch hitter Wensiel Perez worked the team's seventh walk of the day. They finished with eight
02:55total. Veerling followed by grounding a single to left field, and Perez raced all the way around to
03:01score, sliding home to extend the lead. Then pinch hitter Dylan Dingler unloaded a double on an 83.4
03:08ampere down and in changeup, driving it into the far corner of left field to plate Veerling from
03:14second and cap the scoring. Hinch had high praise for Veerling's impact. Veerling is big for us,
03:19he plays the game well, and balances and lengthens our lineup. He found himself up to bat at some
03:25crucial moments, got the ball through the left side, and hit the ball hard there at the end.
03:30This guy is key to this team because of the threat that he provides wherever I put him in the
03:34order,
03:34and he's holding down center field most nights. So, good player. Reflecting on the late explosion,
03:41Hinch added, you just want as many chances as you can get to then break through, and then at the
03:46end,
03:47Wensiel at bat with two outs and nobody on, for us to be able to put a couple runs in
03:51with some good
03:52at bats with Veerling and Ding, made that ninth inning a lot more comfortable in this park against
03:56this team. When this Tigers team gets disciplined starting pitching and situational hitting clicking
04:01at the same time, does this look like a club that can hang in the thick of the playoff race
04:05deep into
04:06the summer?
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