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The Tigers were victorious in a bit of an unusual fashion on Wednesday afternoon in Motown, as John Hicks delivered a walk-off squeeze bunt to score JaCoby Jones and give the Tigers a 3-2 victory and a series win.
For most of the day, the game was a pitcher’s duel. Michael Fulmer allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, then shut down the Rays through his next four frames. All told, he allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning five over his six frames.
Blake Snell pitched well on the other side for the Rays as well. He kept the Tigers off the board until the fifth inning, where they were able to scratch out a run on a pair of singles, a sacrifice bunt and a ground out. They evened up the score in the seventh inning when James McCann blasted a solo home run. Snell allowed just the two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four over his 6 ⅔ innings of work.
The Tigers’ bullpen delivered another tremendous performance after Fulmer departed. Six relievers (Alex Wilson, Daniel Stumpf, Joe Jimenez, Shane Greene, Buck Farmer and Warwick Saupold) combined to fire six scoreless innings.
The Rays’ bullpen did a nice job as well, keeping the Tigers’ offense at bay until the 12th. There, JaCoby Jones led off the inning with a triple off of Matt Andriese, setting the stage for Hicks’ heroics. The lumbering first baseman surprised everyone, even Jones at third base, by dropping down a perfect bunt that sent the Tigers’ faithful home happy with the walk-off win.
Jones finished the afternoon 3-for-5 and is off to an impressive .280/.337/.467 start to the season. McCann and Hicks each went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the contest.
What’s impressive from the Tigers’ perspective, is that they were able to win a series against the Rays despite the fact that Miguel Cabrera sat out all three games with a biceps injury.
With the win, the Tigers inch a bit closer to the .500 mark at 13-16. That’s still good for second place in the American League Central, three games behind the Indians.
The Rays’ loss drops them to 13-16 on the season as well, though that puts them in fourth place in the American League East. They’re 8 ½ games behind the division-leading Red Sox.
