Like many of our friends throughout the SB Nation network, we are simulating the 2020 MLB season with MLB The Show 20. While we are unable to stream the games as they would otherwise be happening, we will try to get ahead of the curve and post about the games on the same day they would have taken place. Or, you know, at least get them back on schedule. Now, onto the recap!
Jonathan Schoop launched the first pitch of the 10th inning deep into the left field seats, and Christin Stewart added an RBI single later in the frame to give the simulated Detroit Tigers a 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday evening. The two-run 10th helped Detroit bounce back from blowing a similar lead in the ninth for their third win in a row.
For a little while, this felt a lot like the Tigers’ 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks on Friday. The Tigers offense jumped on Arizona starter Robbie Ray early, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Victor Reyes, Jeimer Candelario, and C.J. Cron started the game with back-to-back-to-back doubles, plating two runs before Ray was able to record his first out. After Schoop struck out, Niko Goodrum blooped a single into right field to score Cron, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
That was more than enough for Jordan Zimmmermann for a while. The veteran righthander, making his first start after coming off the injured list, held the Diamondbacks without a hit for his first three innings. Ketel Marte broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out double in the fourth, but Zimmermann retired David Peralta on a routine fly ball for the final out of the frame.
Cron added a solo home run in the top of the fifth to stretch Detroit’s lead to 4-0, but the Diamondbacks started chipping away after that. Eduardo Escobar led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, and Christian Walker plated him with an RBI double to get the D’Backs on the board. Starling Marte greeted Ivan Nova, who came on in relief in the sixth, with a solo home run, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 4-2.
Nova settled in after that, and worked three relatively uneventful innings to get the ball to Joe Jimenez in the ninth. The Tigers’ closer, working for the third day in a row, retired Peralta for the first out of the inning. But Arizona’s offense struck quickly after that. Escobar walked with one out, and Walker followed with a two-run homer that barely cleared the wall in left field to tie the game at 4-4.
But the Tigers showed resolve, and quickly took control again. Jimenez retired the next two hitters to send the game into extra innings, and Schoop turned on Junior Guerra’s first pitch in the 10th to give the Tigers the lead again. Clint Frazier singled with one out, Austin Romine walked, and Christin Stewart came through with a big RBI single that plated Frazier for an important insurance run. Buck Farmer came on in the bottom of the 10th and, with some help from his infield defense, worked around two hits to retire the side for the save.
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