Beau Brieske got out of trouble in the ninth inning, Riley Greene drove in the deciding run in the 10th inning and the Detroit Tigers moved closer to AL wild card contention by beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 on Saturday.
Detroit moved within a half-game of the Twins for the final American League playoff spot. Minnesota’s game at Boston was canceled due to rain and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.
The Tigers have won 10 of 13 games to surprisingly find themselves in the playoff hunt after being below .500 a month ago.
That one was nearly lost when closer Jason Foley allowed consecutive singles, a walk and a double to Gunnar Henderson to tie the score at 4-4 in the ninth inning. Detroit manager AJ Hinch pulled Foley for Brieske (3-4), who induced a groundout, got help from shortstop Trey Sweeney in shallow left field with an impressive catch and ended the threat with a flyout to center.
That clutch performance, followed by singles by Greene and Jace Jung and a sacrifice fly by Zach McKinstry off reliever Yennier Cano (4-3), quieted the Camden Yards crowd of nearly 40,000 that had been ready to celebrate minutes earlier. Brieske came out of another tight end in the 10th inning to seal it.
Baltimore could have secured a second straight trip to the postseason with a win and a Seattle loss later on Saturday. Instead, that will have to wait until at least Sunday, and time is running out to catch the New York Yankees atop the AL East.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: Rookie INF Colt Keith, who made a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, was not allowed to start because of an injured right shoulder but could play the entire game Sunday, Hinch said.
Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins was in the lineup after being sidelined Friday with neck problems following a collision with Austin Slater in the outfield on Thursday. … Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said 1B Ryan Mountcastle (wrist) and 3Bs Jordan Westburg (hand) and Ramon Urias (ankle) are “close” to returning.
NEXT
RHP Albert Suárez (8-6, 3.60 ERA) will pitch for the Orioles in the final game of the series. The Tigers have not yet announced a starter, but RHP Casey Mize (2-6, 4.36) is scheduled to get full rest.
