Travis Bazzana's walk-off celebration cemented him as next-generation Tigers villain

If you were still holding onto an ounce of hope that the Tigers might've been able to salvage their season despite going 11-16 in August, Friday's doubleheader against the Guardians absolutely decimated it.

In the first game, the Tigers led 6-1 by the bottom of the fourth, then Keider Montero unraveled, eventually giving up run and a game-tying a grand slam. The score stayed tied going into the bottom of the ninth, then No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio hit a walk-off solo homer off of Drew Sommers.

Still, the Tigers seemed to rally well for Game 2 of the day, getting out to a 3-0 lead through five and a half innings. Andrew Sears ended up giving up just one run through 5 2/3 in his first major league start. And then the Tigers' bullpen happened.

Jacob Waguespack gave up a game-tying homer to rookie Travis Bazzana in the bottom of the eighth. Kenley Jansen gave up a walk-off single to Bazzana in the 10th.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Bazzana turned back to his teammates, who were storming the field to ambush him, and pointed at himself, yelling, "I f—ing do this s—!"

Travis Bazzana made a bad situation worse with walk-off celebration against Tigers

Tigers fans know better than anyone that you underestimate the Guardians at their own peril — or maybe the devil magic is really only reserved for division rivals. José Ramírez and Steven Kwan have long been enemies of Detroit, but Cleveland has a habit of pulling one-hit wonders out of the hat, too. David Fry's pinch-hit homer. Lane Thomas' grand slam. And so on.

Bazzana and fellow Cleveland rookies Chase DeLauter and Parker Messick figure to give the Tigers grief for a long, long time, but Bazzana made himself an instantly detestable figure to Detroit fans with his conduct after the walk-off hit.

Don't get me wrong — the kids should play. Celebrations are good for the game. But to kick us when we're already down? It's hard for Tigers fans not to dislike the guy instantly for that when we're still trying to cope with the disappointment of this season and the Tigers-Guardians rivalry is always simmering.

The Tigers' playoff odds are now down to 0.1%, but it's impossible to see how they regroup after the absolute humiliation of Friday. All we can ask now if that if they're going to lose on Saturday, that they please do it in a less mortifying fashion.

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