Avila led off the 11th with a walk after falling behind, 0-2; Upton and Cabrera also drew free passes to give Detroit the victory Sunday.
Miguel Cabrera’s walk will be the one that’s remembered.
Cabrera’s bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th inning this afternoon gave the Detroit Tigers a much-needed series win over the Blue Jays in walk-off fashion.
But it was Alex Avila’s walk that began the team’s winning rally.
It came in the most improbable of situations: Against a left-handed pitcher, which he has seen so sparingly this season, and after falling into a no balls, two strikes count.
“That starts it out, no question, ” manager Brad Ausmus said. “They bring in a lefty pitcher to start the inning mainly because Alex is the leadoff hitter and they want to keep the leadoff hitter off the bases.”
After falling behind, Avila battled Blue Jays lefty Jean Beliveau to a full count and then walked. He advanced rather easily to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Jose Iglesias, then to third base on an error by third baseman Josh Donaldson. He scored the game-winning run after Justin Upton and Miguel Cabrera drew back-to-back walks.
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“I enjoy it, for sure, ” Avila said. “When you’ re in the biggest hole you can be in as a hitter and then make a quality at-bat, typically you can chalk that up as a win for you.”
Avila said his approach doesn’ t change much in such situations: “A lot of times when I’ m 0-2, my approach maybe changes slightly where I maybe protect the plate, but I’ m still trying to hit strikes. They’ re the same pitches I take when I’ m 0-0 or 1-0 or 2-0.
“I trust my eyes and if it looks like a ball out of the hand, I’ m going to take it. But that’s definitely a good feeling when you’ re behind like that and you’ re able to get back in and do something productive.”
Ausmus said the Tigers’ experience level went in their favor in that last inning. Typically, younger hitters might be too anxious at the plate in those situations. But Avila, Upton and Cabrera – all veterans – drew key walks.
“Early in careers, you want to be the hero so badly, ” Ausmus said. “Right when you see the white of the ball, you’ re swinging and you chase pitches out of the zone. When you have guys who have been in this situation before, it’s easy to calm the nerves and just take what the pitchers give you.”
If nothing else, the Tigers’ series win over the Blue Jays was a strong response to a bad start to the second half, when they were beaten badly Friday night. But the team is hoping it’s more. Avila spoke about his experience in hoping so.
“I remember not too long ago, we lost the division with Minnesota seven games back and not a month to go in the season. The year we made the World Series, we were four back with 10 games to go, ” Avila said (In 2012, the Tigers were three games behind first-place Chicago entering play on Sept. 19, but won the division by three games) . “So anything can happen. There’s still a lot of baseball to play.”
Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.
