Tigers have 'fun,' top Braves, 6-2, now 1/2 game out of wild card spot
Cabrera's two home runs pace quick-striking Tigers, who inch to a half-game out after Toronto's loss in Boston
ATLANTA – The cooler had a sticker on it that said, “ENERGY DRINKS IN HERE.”
It sat by the door leading from the visitor’s clubhouse at Turner Field to the dugout, the best example of the Detroit Tigers’ mindset heading into their biggest series of the season.
When unsuspecting persons opened the cooler, grabbing Casey McGehee a Red Bull or Justin Verlander an energy drink, they were startled: There were no drinks, only a plastic snake, tied to the lid.
“I think fun is a very appropriate word,” manager Brad Ausmus said before the game.
And the Tigers wasted no time taking their fun from the clubhouse onto the field on Friday night. Three batters into the game, they had three runs, courtesy of two home runs, and beat the Braves handedly, 6-2.
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With the win, they pulled within a half game of the Blue Jays for the second American League wild card spot and effectively control their own destiny once again. If they don’t lose again in the regular season, they will at least qualify for a postseason play-in game.
“We do appreciate the help,” Ausmus said. “We still gotta take care of business here.”
On the first pitch of the game, Ian Kinsler sent a fly ball home run distance to leftfield but a few feet foul. On the fourth pitch, Kinsler kept it fair, giving left-hander Daniel Norris all the offense he would need. Cameron Maybin followed with a single off righty Matt Wisler before Miguel Cabrera hit the first of two 400-foot rockets over the centerfield fence.
In the third inning, Cabrera hit his second. It was his 38th of the season, marking his 39th career multi-home run game and sixth of the season.
Asked about the special streak Cabrera is on – 8-for-11 with four home runs in the past three games – Ausmus said: “For him, it’s pretty normal. He’s set a standard offensively that few have ever equaled in the history of the game.”
By that point, Norris was cruising up and down the Braves lineup.
The lefty continued to cement his status in the Tigers’ postseason rotation should they advance there with 6 2/3 spectacular innings. He allowed one run on five hits and only allowed one runner in scoring position until pinch-hitter Brandon Snyder hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out eight and walked two.
“It’s unbelievable,” Norris said. “it completely changed my game plan. You go out there and you have a lead like that, you're like, ‘All right, I’m attacking these guys no matter what.’ This offense just makes things easy.”
Ausmus has been trying desperately to get Norris through seven innings for the first time this season and third in 27 career starts, and he was one pitch away, allowing the home run to Snyder in a full count. He threw 114 pitches, a career-high.
“That was on my mind the past few days leading up to it,” Norris said. “I was really excited to get out there and help the team win.”
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James McCann first padded the Tigers’ lead with a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning and Justin Upton then continued his sizzling September with a solo home run in the seventh. It was Upton’s 30th home run of the season. 12 have come this month, second-most for the month of September in Tigers history to Hank Greenberg, who hit 16 in 1946.
Kyle Ryan relieved Norris in the seventh, retiring the final hitter of the inning, and Bruce Rondon allowed a solo home run to Matt Kemp in the eighth. Pitching for the first time since he blew a save on Sept. 24 against the Royals, Francisco Rodriguez threw a scoreless ninth inning, striking out the side, and the Tigers – with help from the Red Sox – took another step to sneaking into the postseason.
“It’s beneficial,” Nick Castellanos said. “Still doesn’t change the fact that we gotta go out and win. Even if we didn’t control our own destiny, we still gotta go out and win.”
Now, though, they do. And they’re having a little bit of fun while they’re at it.
Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Download our Tigers Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!
