Detroit — The Tigers were leading the Cardinals, 4-2, on Wednesday and manager AJ Hinch was hoping rookie Matt Manning could push through the sixth inning in his Comerica Park debut.
But Paul Goldschmidt led off the inning with a single and Hinch, looking four batters ahead in the Cardinals lineup, got lefty Gregory Soto up and warming in the bullpen. Huh? Soto, one of the Tigers’ three late-inning bullpen options, up in the sixth inning?
“What I’ve really learned about managing is the game can be critical at any point,” Hinch said.
Sure enough, with two outs, Manning walked Yadier Molina, putting the tying runs on base, and Hinch had Soto ready for left-handed hitting Matt Carpenter.