Riley Greene injury scare, Kenley Jansen tightrope can't keep Tigers down as surge continues vs Guardians

Tigers fans really meant it when they they rained boos down on Guardians starter Tanner Bibee for hitting Riley Greene with a pitch in the bottom of the second on Tuesday. Detroit came into the game 0-6 against Cleveland so far this season and, of course, with years of not-so-friendly history between them.

Just two days before, the Tigers overtook the Guardians in the AL Central standings. It was only by half a game, but it meant Cleveland had officially blown what was once an 11.5-game lead in the division.

Greene took first base and eventually came around to score Detroit's first run on a Spencer Torkelson RBI double. There wasn't much time to celebrate, however, as AJ Hinch pulled him from the game almost immediately after he got back to the dugout. The Tigers were quick to update that Greene reported hamstring tightness, and in his postgame press conference, Hinch said his player would undergo further evaluation and would not be in Wednesday's lineup regardless of the results.

The Tigers played on, tagging Bibee with five more runs (three thanks to Kevin McGonigle) before he was eventually pulled. They had a comfortable 6-2 lead after the seventh, then Jo Adell hammered a solo homer off of Kyle Finnegan in the eighth to make it a save situation for Kenley Jansen.

And boy, does Jansen make himself hard to watch sometimes. He loaded the bases with one out and allowed a run on a sac fly before getting out of the inning.

Tigers increase their lead over division rival Guardians with rollercoaster win on Tuesday

Tigers fans have to take deep, grounding breaths and cross our fingers basically any time Finnegan or Jansen comes out of the pen, which isn't exactly what you want from your two key late-inning relievers. But Jansen, future Hall of Famer that he is, does come through more often than not. He did something harrowingly similar to this with the Cubs a few weeks ago, and he still got out of it.

The bigger concern is Greene. Although he's somehow always invoking the ire of Tigers fans (even when he doesn't really deserve it), Detroit can't afford to lose him from lineup right now. Hinch remained hopeful that tests will come back clean, even if he's going to get Greene off his feet regardless on Wednesday.

Still, there was everything else to be happy about with that victory. The offense is still moving and grooving, the defense is absolutely locked in. The Tigers know better than anyone that this is the week when they have to prove their mettle in the division, and they're not taking that lightly.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow