It had been a struggle for Casey Mize, a struggle from the start. He hit the first batter of the game and walked the next one. He gave up two runs in the first and threw too many pitches. He didn't have his "A stuff or my B stuff," he said. "Just bad stuff."
But Mize battled. He dug in and got outs. He dragged himself into the sixth with a 4-2 lead, runner on third and one out to go. Daniel Norris was ready in the bullpen. And now here came A.J. Hinch trotting out to the mound, with Mize having tied a career-high in pitches. The rookie's night would be over.
"And then I let out a little frustration aloud," Mize admitted. "I'm not gonna say what was said."
Except Hinch wasn't coming to get him. He was coming to goad him, to get him over the finish line. He was coming to give Mize the next batter, so long as Mize wanted him, so long as Mize would attack him. The rookie's night would continue.
"I didn't see him signal, so I just kept my eyes on him," Mize said. "He asked me how I felt, I told him I wanted it and he said, 'I want you to have it. But you better go right at him, don’t dance around it. This is your guy. I believe you can get him, but you better go right at him."
So Mize nodded yes on a four-seam fastball, and Jake Rogers called for it up and in on Andrew Benintendi. The four-seamer had defied Mize all night, back to those first two batters of the game, but he wasn't letting this one get away -- this pitch, this inning, this win. And he wasn't letting down Hinch. Mize hit his spot with his 96th pitch, a new career high, and got the final out of his gutsiest start as a Tiger.
"We execute a fastball up and in and he flies out," said Mize. "Once again, really appreciative of a manager that’s going to believe in me and let me ride it out. I’m really proud to play for A.J. Hinch."
There will be longer starts for Mize. There will be better ones and brighter ones, like his seven-inning gem against the Astros last month. There was nothing dominant about his performance Wednesday against the Royals. But he was defiant and determined, as dogged as we've seen him in Detroit. This was Mize grinding out a win and growing up in the bigs. This was his most gratifying start yet.
"It was a mature outing for him," said Hinch. "Even the way it started, he took a step back and competed. His body wasn’t firing perfectly. As I told him after, 'You can win with your less-than-best stuff if you stay in the fight and keep pitching.' He could’ve melted down and created more chaos. Instead he came through with some gutsy pitching when he needed to."
Mize was texting with his injured teammate Derek Holland after the game. "That was a grind," Mize told him. Holland gets it. He's a former starter who's stuck around for 13 years by scratching and clawing, by hanging tough with a diminished arm. By finding a way on those nights he had nothing.
"Tonight really felt like I didn't have much at all," said Mize.
His velocity was down. His command was off. It happens in baseball, and Mize has caved when it's happened before. This time was different. He found what he needed on a night he had nothing, got the most out of his arm when he didn't have much. This was mind over matter and grit over glitter, and a big step for Mize toward becoming his best.
"It's just competing hard, that's really all it comes down to," he said. "Not giving in."