Harold Castro, Jeimer Candelario do just enough in Detroit Tigers' 2-1 win over Cleveland

Ryan Ford
Detroit Free Press

This time, Detroit Tigers utility player Harold Castro didn’t wait until the eighth inning to ruin Cleveland Guardians starter Triston McKenzie’s afternoon. 

The 28-year-old launched the second pitch of his second at-bat Sunday into the bullpens in left field in the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead. Castro sent an 86.6 mph slider from McKenzie 364 feet, and the Tigers finished off the series with the Guardians with a 2-1 victory to give them a 2-1 series win.

It was Castro’s second big hit off McKenzie in as many games; on Aug. 15, 2021, Castro singled with two outs in the eighth inning to break up a perfect-game bid by McKenzie, also at Comerica Park. 

Castro, who entered the week with nine career homers, has hit three in four games this week. So will he be starting Monday against the Minnesota Twins? 

“Oh, he’ll be in there tomorrow, don’t you worry," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I may not be the smartest man, but I’m not dumb.” 

The Tigers (17-29) didn’t do much else against McKenzie early, with Derek Hill’s single in the third inning the only other hit off the lanky right-hander over the first five innings.  

Tigers' Harold Castro signals as he rounds the bases after a solo home run during the fourth inning against the Guardians, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Detroit.

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In the sixth, however, Jeimer Candelario — who entered in the third for an ailing Robbie Grossman — connected with a 79.5 mph curveball from McKenzie for a line-drive solo homer to right. McKenzie finished with eight strikeouts over 7⅔ innings to raise his career ERA against the Tigers from 0.78 to 1.17. 

“Another opportunity for Candy to come in, we kinda ambush him, we were going to give him the mental day off," Hinch said. "He came up with the big swing.” 

McKenzie was matched for four innings by Elvin Rodríguez, who ended up with a no-decision in his second MLB start (and third appearance). The Tigers righty held the Guardians scoreless over four innings, with two hits, no walks and four strikeouts before departing with lower-body cramping before the start of the fifth inning

"He had great pace, he had good stuff," Hinch said,. "He was keeping them off balance, he was ready to pitch.”

Castro almost doubled down on the mastery of McKenzie; with two outs in the sixth, he drove a 92.1 mph four-seam fastball 394 feet to dead center, where it was hauled in by speedy center fielder Myles Straw on the run for the third out. 

Tigers' Jeimer Candelario follows through on his solo home run during the sixth inning against the Guardians, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Detroit.

“You know what, we won a series," Hinch said."That’s really what matters. I get it, we definitely feel like we’re taking it on the chin, but we won a series against a division team. 

“We had a couple really good swings, some really good pitching. Another day, another injury. But we won a series; that’s what we wanted to do.” 

El-Rod a hot rod 

Rodríguez's second start opened much smoother than his first. On May 23, Rodríguez needed 24 pitches to navigate the first frame; after getting the first out, he allowed the next four Twins to reach and score, driven in on a grand slam by Minnesota’s Max Kepler. On Sunday, though, Rodríguez was worried because of what he described as a bad bullpen session.

And then, when the game started, he mowed down the Guardians 1-2-3 on 10 pitches in the first inning. His trickiest challenge: star slugger Jose Ramirez, who flew out to third on the fifth pitch of the at-bat.  

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After retiring Josh Naylor to open the second, the magic was over, as Rodríguez allowed a first-pitch single to Oscar Gonzalez, who launched a liner at 111.9 mph off the bat to left. Rodríguez cracked down on the next two batters, getting swinging strikeouts of Andres Gimenez and Richie Palacios to end the inning.  

The third brought another 1-2-3 inning, as Rodríguez picked up his third straight strikeout (Luke Maile on an 85.1 mph slider) followed by a liner to first base and a pop fly to right. Rodriguez allowed another single, but no runs, in the fourth, on just 13 pitches. 

“When I’m doing my bullpen, I’m just trying to feel lose, to feel comfortable," Rodríguez said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. "When I jump onto the mound during the game, it’s a different mindset — just trying to throw my pitches and do my best.” 

Tigers starting pitcher Elvin Rodriguez throws during the first inning against the Guardians, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Detroit.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that was it for Rodríguez, who signaled an injury while warming up before the fifth inning. After a conference on the mound, he walked to the dugout and was replaced by right-hander Wily Peralta. Rodríguez threw 53 pitches, 30 for strikes, and was particularly effective with his four-seam fastball; he threw it 35 times (67%) and got 11 called strikes or whiffs with it, while recording eight of his 12 outs on the pitch. 

“This is a 50/50 league: 50% fastball, 50% offspeed,” Hinch said. ”We know these guys are gonna make contact, so command the zone and getting into leverage is the best way to offset a very highly competitive contact team. So I didn’t care what pitch it is, as long as it’s a strike.” 

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Wily in a hurry 

Peralta warmed up quickly, then got into a jam nearly as quickly. After a seven-pitch strikeout to open the fifth, he allowed back-to-back singles by Palacios and Maile. Steven Kwan grounded to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who fired to Javier Báez at second to force out Maile, but Palacios advanced to third. Peralta then worked out of the jam on six pitches to Straw, who grounded to second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who threw to Torkelson at first for inning’s end. 

After Peralta’s scoreless frame, the Tigers turned to their top bullpen arms, beginning with Alex Lange to open the sixth. Lange needed just seven pitches to wipe out the Guardians, 1-2-3, including a four-pitch strikeout of Ramirez. The righty continued his work in the seventh inning, needing eight pitches to strike out Gonzalez.

That ended his outing, as Hinch called for Andrew Chafin. The lefty was victimized by the shift, though, as Gimenez hit a dribbler to third that Harold Castro couldn’t reach. Right-handed pinch-hitter Owen Miller followed that with a single to put runners on the corners. The shutout ended on a sac fly from Maile to Hill in center. Chafin then got Kwan, another lefty, on a sixth-pitch grounder up the middle for the force at second. 

Michael Fulmer and Gregory Soto shut down the Guardians in the eighth and ninth — though not before Ramirez walked and stole second against Fulmer — to preserve the victory. 

Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor (22) attempts to tag Tigers' Derek Hill during the third inning Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Detroit.

Designated ailment 

Grossman, who was filling in at designated hitter for Miguel Cabrera (back strain), lasted just one at-bat before being replaced by Candelario with two outs in the bottom of the third. The at-bat was nearly doubly costly, as Candelario lined the third pitch foul into first-base coach Gary Jones. Jones went down and was checked on by trainer Doug Teter but remained in the game. Candelario then struck out to end the inning. 

After the game, Hinch identified the injury as neck spasms on the left side and said Grossman would be day-to-day.

“He locked up pretty good," Hinch said. "I think it bothered him a little bit pregame, but I didn’t know about that. But then he tried to go and took a swing in the first, then got some treatment, y’know, had a little bit of time before he was gonna come up again and couldn’t go."

Grossman entered Sunday hitting .200 with six doubles and no home runs in 166 plate appearances. He popped out to third to open the bottom of the first inning. Candelario’s homer in the sixth snapped a 2-for-23 skid; it was his fifth home run of May after none in April. 

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.