St. Louis, Mo. — The Tigers were down to their last strike in the ninth inning, one strike away from wasting a brilliant pitching performance by rookie lefty Tarik Skubal.
Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the ninth, Miguel Cabrera walked off the bench and lined a double to right field off Cardinals closer Alex Reyes. The Tigers didn't have another bench player to pinch-run for him, which seemed ominous at the time.
Harold Castro, the third straight pinch-hitter used by manager AJ Hinch in the ninth, got behind in the count 1-2. First he lined a ball just foul down the left field line.