On his walk to the bullpen to catch Tarik Skubal’s warm-up Friday night, Dillon Dingler took a look around Comerica Park. The fans were filling it to the brim beneath a smoky sky, for a series with sizzle: the American League-leading Tigers against the National League-leading Cubs. A few hours later, after Skubal extinguished Chicago’s bats in a 3-1 Tigers win, Dingler said, “We’ve had some pretty big crowds this year compared to what I’ve seen, and it’s fun. It sets the stage.”
The stars took it from there. It was Skubal in Game 1, with a little help at the end from Will Vest. Spencer Torkelson lashed a go-ahead homer in the sixth, and the Tigers flashed the leather in the field. The Cubs flexed their muscles with a barrage of homers in Game 2, two from vaunted slugger Seiya Suzuki. Jack Flaherty tamed them in Game 3. Torkelson and Riley Greene stoked the offense, Greene smacking a clutch single in the fifth to both snap out of a funk and give the Tigers a 4-0 lead they would ride to the finish. After three games in Detroit, the top team in the majors was undisputed.
"Two out of three in front of our home fans against that team is exactly the type of environment that we want to create for the rest of the summer," said A.J. Hinch. "I’ve always said, we’re going to have a team that you’re going to be proud of, and I trust and respect the fans to come out and support a team that’s maturing and getting more and more confident."
The Tigers are no longer punching above their weight class. More and more, this is who they are. They have the best record in the bigs dating back to Aug. 11 of last season when they took off on a run that ended in Game 5 of the ALDS in Cleveland. In the clubhouse after that game, Kerry Carpenter stood in front of his locker and said, "We're here to stay. I think we put the world on notice that we can do big things in this clubhouse with these guys."
Carpenter doubled twice and scored a run Sunday. But it was his defense that did the talking this weekend. He made a leaping catch at the wall in the eighth inning Friday night to preserve the Tigers' lead, and on Sunday he cut down Ian Happ at the plate with a terrific throw from right field to help Flaherty escape the only inning where he ran into trouble. The Tigers were a few plays better than the Cubs, in a series that met expectations.
"It was really fun to compete against them, match up and see how we do. We gave them our best, and it was fun to come out on top with a series win and show that we can beat good teams, too," Carpenter said.
To start the week, the Tigers scuffled against a bad team. Splitting four with the last-place White Sox did not sit well with them. It even caused a little angst among their fans, who are growing accustomed to a club that plays clean, winning baseball. So that's what the Tigers did this weekend. Dingler, the 25-year-old who continues to shine behind the plate, admitted after Sunday's win that "Chicago might have been a little bit of a wake-up call for us."
"We didn’t address it like that, but we knew that we underperformed against those guys," he said. "So having a good team come in and making sure we focus up on doing the little things, the (coaches) were harping on it before, so I was glad we could take care of business."
Business is booming again at Comerica Park. More than 120,000 fans came through the turnstiles this weekend, the first time the Tigers have sold out three consecutive games in June since 2013. That was for a series against the Red Sox in what turned out to be a preview of that year's ALCS. Could this have been a preview of a matchup later this fall? We'll defer to Dingler, who laughed and said, "It’s probably looking a little bit too far (ahead)."
For the Tigers, looking up the past few days was good enough: "It’s special any time you fill a ballpark for a full weekend series," said Flaherty, who retired the first nine batters he faced on Sunday en route to six scoreless innings in his third strong start in a row. "It elevates our play."
"To go out there in front of these fans, they were great all series, and they’re going to be great the rest of the year," Flaherty said. "You just enjoy those moments."
Hinch enjoyed one himself at the podium on Sunday afternoon, grinning when asked about Greene. He insisted after Saturday's loss in which Greene struck out four more times -- he leads the majors in that department -- that Detroit's best hitter would be just fine. After flaring a ball over the third baseman's head in the third to end an 0-for-10 slide, Greene came to the plate in the fifth with runners on second and third and smoked a single the other way to double the Tigers' lead.
"I kept telling him," said Carpenter, "he’s one at-bat away from the best stretch of his career. I think today may have started it."
"I hope so!" said Greene.
There might be more recognizable rosters around baseball, but the standings say these are two of the best teams. This series echoed it, while highlighting the stars rising on both sides. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who homered Saturday, is a younger, more explosive version of Greene. Kyle Tucker was Skubal's equal Friday night, one of the best hitters in the game stroking an RBI double off the best pitcher in the game.
The Tigers' bullpen was strong in the late innings, especially the increasingly sturdy duo of Vest and Tommy Kahnle. On the bases, the Tigers ran with their signature verve, frequently "going first to third on one of the best outfields in baseball," said Hinch. In the field, "we were nails on pretty much everything," said Dingler.
"There’s a lot of good teams around the league," said Hinch, "... and there’s a lot of quality baseball being played by these two teams that were on display this weekend. Felt good to win the series."
In the visitor's dugout before the series began, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked to explain what makes the Tigers such a good team. The two-time World Series winner who played 16 years in the majors pointed to their "outstanding" rotation, "exceptional bullpen" and the fact that "their offense has produced." You earn your record in this league, one way or the other, said Counsell.
"And they've earned their record, 100 percent," he said.
When the series ended, Hinch had similar praise for the Cubs. With several friends in the organization, it's a team he's been following from afar: "Got a lot of respect for how they’re going about it, and they’re churning some really good talent. They have good arms, good at-bats. Tough team to play."
"We don’t need to see them again," said Hinch, pausing for effect, "unless it really matters."