Tigers rally to top Rays, secure sweep

DETROIT — The Tigers had just started a West Coast trip in Seattle in August, seven games under .500 after losing seven of nine on a homestand, when third-base coach Joey Cora talked with hitters about baserunning. How long it lasted depends on who you ask.

“It was, like, five or 10 seconds,” Matt Vierling said. “Joey made a comment about it, got on us a little bit.”

However long it lasted, it was fitting with Cora’s personality, and it resonated.

“It was an intense meeting, to say the least,” Parker Meadows said, a sentiment that Justyn-Henry Malloy seconded.

“In that particular meeting, it was just reminding guys about a couple different things,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “When you play in Seattle, it’s very similar to Comerica [Park], where it’s big, and if we get [outfielders] going side to side, we need to take extra bases. We were also facing one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, so we were trying to instill preparedness: We’ve got to take advantage of every 90 [feet] against this type of team.”

From there, Vierling said, the Tigers took a few more chances. Those became highlights in pregame meetings, and the mentality spread.

“They showed us examples, and it just kind of grew from there,” Vierling said. “We’ve made it a point of emphasis since then.”

“They run the bases hard,” Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said.

What began as a reminder is now a mindset, with players in the dugout going crazy whenever a teammate takes an extra base on a risky play. It has fueled the Tigers’ late-season charge into the American League Wild Card race, and it helped the Tigers win a game Thursday that they seemed headed for defeat to the Rays.

The win, their fifth win in a row, kept the Tigers tied with the Royals for the second AL Wild Card spot, three games ahead of the Twins, who lost 8-6 to the Marlins in extra innings on Thursday night. Detroit can clinch a Wild Card spot with a win over the White Sox on Friday or a Twins loss to the Orioles.

“Little things are a big reason why we’re here,” Riley Greene said.

Vierling’s entire trip around the bases with the go-ahead run in Thursday’s 4-3 win at Comerica Park showed the value of aggressive baserunning. Riley Greene, who reached on a one-out single, read Garrett Cleavinger’s 1-0 pitch to Vierling in the dirt and took off. The ball barely bounced away from catcher Ben Rortvedt, but Greene never hesitated, sliding into second as the throw bounced away.

“The extra 90 feet is always huge in those situations,” Greene said.

With the tying run on second, Vierling walked on four pitches. Colt Keith’s line-drive single to center sent Greene charging home, but also sent Vierling speeding around second, forcing center fielder Jose Siri and his 96th-percentile outfield arm to make a choice.

“As soon as the ball’s hit,” Vierling explained before the game, “it’s like, ‘What am I going to do?’ You have to be [thinking], ‘I’m going to third base from the chute.’ When you have no let-up, it puts a lot of pressure on the outfielder.

“Also, the way our field works, it’s a big outfield. It’s a long throw for an outfielder; I can speak from experience about that. A lot of things have to go right to get you out. I think just the way it starts is as soon as you see the ball hit, about 80 percent of the balls that you see, you can probably go first to third.”

The Tigers entered Wednesday having gone from first to third base 37 times since Aug. 1, most in the Majors according to Tigers PR. They’ve been thrown out just once in that span.

“I think ever since Seattle, we’ve just been full-go aggressive on the bases,” Meadows said.

Said Vierling: “Anything that takes [the outfielder] away from going directly to third, you can probably take advantage of. It’s been great. It’s one of the main things that we’ve done as a team, I think, that’s helped us.”

The mentality has permeated the team culture.

“We get fired up in the dugout when we see a guy go first to third that might usually not,” Vierling said, “or go first to third on a ball that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’”

While Greene slid home ahead of Siri’s sailed throw, Vierling dashed to third. So when Malloy stepped into the box to pinch-hit for Kerry Carpenter, all he needed to put the Tigers on top was a fly ball, not a base hit.

“The extra 90 feet does wonders for your boys [batting] behind you,” Malloy said, “kind of taking the pressure off at-bats, which is exactly what [Vierling] did for me. I have to give him a hug.”

Malloy’s fly ball on Cleavinger’s 3-2 pitch seemed to hang forever as Siri camped under it, the anticipation building for the mad dash to come. Vierling slid in ahead of the throw and let out a roar matched by the crowd and the dugout.

“We’ve done that so many times this year,” Keith said. “I love that about us. We don’t give up.”