This is how a bad weekend becomes a good week. This is how a losing streak is stopped in its tracks. The Tigers of the past few years would have have withered after dropping three in a row last week to the Angels. They would been swept on Sunday and then swamped at home by the Cardinals.
But these Tigers have the Big Three. These Tigers had Casey Mize to halt the skid, and they had Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning to keep things rolling. They didn't even have the rookies at their best. They've won three in a row all the same. This is how a rebuild gains steam.
In his Comerica Park debut, Manning held the Cardinals to two runs over 5 2/3 innings to help the Tigers to a 6-2 win. A day after Skubal held the Cardinals to two runs over 4 2/3 innings, three days after Mize held the Angels to three runs over five innings. None of them were satisfied, but the Tigers are plenty pleased with the results.
"It's big for us," A.J. Hinch said Wednesday. "The rotation not too long ago had a lot of questions because of the injuries. It's big for our team today to get some stability back in the rotation, it's also big for those guys to start to feel it a little bit. They're facing guys with names they recognize. (Paul) Goldschmidt and (Nolan) Arenado mean something in this game. And in Anaheim when you see (Shohei) Ohtani, that matters.
"Our guys are learning and growing and having to face some of baseball's best while having a ton of responsibility on them. That's growth."
Manning was far from dominant Wednesday. The leadoff hitter took him 370 feet to the warning track in right center, a homer in most other stadiums. He gave up lots of hard contact, including five balls with an exit velo of at least 100 mph. His typically mid-90's fastball was a few notches slow. He induced just four whiffs and one strikeout.
"It wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be," Manning admitted, just like Skubal and Mize acknowledged before him.
But:
"I pitched today with not my best stuff," Manning said.
And he learned his best stuff isn't always necessary in Comerica Park.
"I'm happy to call this ballpark my home," he said. "There's some long yards in the alleys, so I'm happy I was here to get my first win. It was a good day all around, just want to be a little sharper next time."
He'll want his heater to be hotter. He'll want to locate his curve more consistently, even as he threw plenty on Wednesday for strikes. He'll want to get more off-balance swings. He said he'll try to "put it all together next week."
But this week has been a good one for the Tigers, after a bad one was looming. And this day was a good one for Manning, who took the mound for the first time in Detroit and left with the lead. The fans gave him a standing ovation, just like they applauded Tuesday for Skubal. They were cheering Manning's presence as much as his performance.
"It kind of caught me by surprise," he said. "I thought it was just a standard thing they do for a starter who throws some good quality innings. But it definitely felt good, it felt welcome, it felt like home. I'm happy that it was here, in this ballpark and this city."
The fans are cheering because this is what they've been waiting for. The Big Three have arrived and the Tigers are winning, and the cheers will only grow louder as the pitchers last longer. Manning kept his eyes down as he walked off the mound Wednesday, not really expecting an applause. He'll have plenty of more chances to tip his cap.
