When the Detroit Tigers play Cleveland today in Game 4 of the ALDS, they will return to a familiar formula.
The Tigers will roll out the same lineup they used on Saturday in Game 1 when they faced Cleveland pitcher Tanner Bibee.
On that day, the Tigers got only four hits and didn’t score a run, losing 7-0.
So why do it again?
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has a good reason.
“If you really break down the last game, I thought our bats were very competitive,” Hinch said Thursday. “We didn't get the two-out hit, put pressure on him early, where we thought they may even have to go to their bullpen earlier than they wanted to. He got out of it, and then he settled in until they took the ball away from him and gave it to their bullpen. So I'm going to go with the same lineup because I like the quality of the bats that were there. The advantage for the hitter of seeing somebody for the second time in five days is sometimes good, sometimes irrelevant. We're hoping for the good side."
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Even though Hinch didn’t want to sit Wenceel Perez, he decided to go with Zach McKinstry because he has had demonstratable success against Bibee, hitting 5-for-15 while driving in a pair of runs.
“McKinstry is a good example who's had pretty good success against him, you know, throughout this season. So he's back in there again today,” Hinch said.
On the other side, Hinch will start Reese Olson, who also pitched as a “bulk reliever” in Game 1.
On that day, Tyler Holton got the start and gave up four runs on three hits without recording an out.
Hinch turned to Olson, who promptly gave up a homer.
But then, Olson settled in and went five innings, giving up just two more hits.
“We know he's going to face this team for the second time," Hinch said. "He's made a ton of starts for us. He's really good, and part of his routine, we don't want to interrupt again. You know, I think the challenge is always, when you do as many openers as we've done and, and, you know, use as many guys as we have, it always brings up the question if you should do it all the time. But we really believe in Reese. We like the way threw the ball the other day.”
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The Tigers have been using Olson in different roles while he recovers from a shoulder strain, almost like rehab action.
But they see improvement.
“The last start was his best start since he came off,” Hinch said. “We activated him pretty early after his rehab assignment started. He didn't really get built up as a starter. I think he only threw a couple innings in the minor leagues so we were trying to do both things the last 10 days of the season, and use his innings to get into the playoffs, and then hopefully continue to build him up to where his endurance is up to 75 to 100 pitches.”
Tigers lineup Game 3:
- CF Parker Meadows
- DH Kerry Carpenter
- RF Matt Vierling
- LF Riley Greene
- 2B Colt Keith
- 1B Spencer Torkelson
- 3B Zach McKinstry
- SS Trey Sweeney
- C Jake Rogers
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com . Follow him on X @seideljeff . To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Tigers are returning to same batting order from ill-fated Game 1
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