DETROIT — As manager AJ Hinch said Wednesday morning after announcing that Riley Greene was going on the injured list because of a stress fracture in his left fibula, the baseball schedule doesn’t allow for wallowing or self-pity.
The games just keep coming.
He said the players had a choice — they could fold or fight.
“I know these guys will make the right choice,” he said.
There was no absence of fight in the Tigers on Wednesday.
They scraped together four singles to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning and salvaged the final game of the three-game set against the Texas Rangers, 3-2, at Comerica Park.
Nick Maton and Tyler Nevin opened the sixth with singles, chasing starter Dane Dunning. Zack Short greeted reliever Jonathan Hernandez with a bunt single to load the bases.
A two-strike sacrifice fly by Jake Rogers scored one run and then the new Jake — Jake Marisnick, whose contract was purchased before the game — lined a single to right to score Nevin.
Marisnick, whom the Tigers acquired in a minor-league deal for cash on Tuesday, had two hits in his debut.
Speaking of fight…
Given what he soldiered through this month, allowing 21 runs in 20.1 innings over his previous five starts, this was significant progress for Tigers lefty starter Joey Wentz.
He gave up some loud contact, scattered seven hits and struck out five in his 4.1 innings Wednesday, but he bowed his neck and limited the powerful Rangers offense to a single run. His battle level was impressive.
The first five hitters he faced all hit balls with exit velocities of over 100 mph. Still, he was able to induce Josh Jung to ground out to short, stranding runners at second and third.
His biggest out came with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. He’d already allowed a run — a double by Jung, RBI single by Jonah Heim — and Marcus Semien was up with two outs. Semien had already hit a 390-foot fly out and extended his hitting streak to 20 games earlier against Wentz.
Wentz threw him four curveballs and one fastball to get the count full. In a 1-1 game, no open base and Corey Seager on deck, Wentz threw a changeup — one of seven he threw in the game — and got Semien to pop out to first.
Huge moment in the game.
Another huge moment came in the top of the seventh. With a runner at first and one out, left-handed-hitting Seager lined a ball that one-hopped off the wall in right field off lefty reliever Chasen Shreve.
Right-fielder Zach McKinstry played the ball perfectly off the wall and threw a seed to second base, nailing Seager. Nathaniel Lowe followed with a single, which, because of McKinstry’s throw, scored one run and not two.
Reliever Jason Foley struck out Adolis Garcia to end the seventh, then, after he gave up a two-out triple to Leody Tavares in the eighth, he retired Josh H. Smith on a hard ground ball to third baseman Jonathan Schoop.
The Rangers put the tying run on second base in the ninth against Alex Lange. But, he struck out Lowe to earn his 10th save of the season.