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 Catcher McCann hit his second walk-off home run of his brief career
off a hanging split-finger fastball thrown by right-hander Zach
Putnam with one out in the ninth inning Sunday to give the Detroit
Tigers a 5-4 comeback victory over the Chicago White Sox.
"That's two walk-off home runs," Tigers' manager Brad Ausmus said.
"He's already eclipsed me (one) -- and in only one year.
"You don't remember mine? 1996. Off Norm Charlton. Tiger Stadium."
McCann's other walk-off home run came May 21 against Houston. His
first major league home run was an inside-the-park job.
Putnam (1-3) took the loss while right-hander Joakim Soria (3-0) got
the win. The Detroit closer pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
The biggest hit of the game might have been the score-tying double
Martinez rocketed off the wall in right after the Tigers had been
stifled, 4-0, on two hits over seven innings by Chicago right-hander
Jeff Samardzija.
But McCann lined a single to left to start the eighth and shortstop
Jose Iglesias took a close 3-2 pitch for a walk. Center fielder
Anthony Gose grounded a single up the middle to load the bases and
Samardzija hit second baseman Ian Kinsler with a 1-1 pitch to force
in the Tigers' first run of the game.
Samardzija struck first baseman Miguel Cabrera out on a high 1-2
fastball but Martinez exploded the next delivery to tie the score,
with Kinsler two steps behind Gose from second to home plate.
"After he got Miggy, and especially the way he got him," Chicago
manager Robin Ventura said, "I thought there was still a lot left in
the tank. It just didn't work out.
"You're going batter-by-batter from that point."
"That's the Victor we saw in 2014," Ausmus said. "And the one we've
seen since he came back from that rehab stint."
"That hit to tie the game up was huge," Martinez said. "You could
see it gave a little spark to the team."
"That's a big bat that wasn't there for a while," McCann said.
Ventura will be left to second-guess himself, although most managers
say they don't do that.
"It was more how he was going," Ventura said. "And he usually gets
stronger as he goes along.
"It can work both ways. If you pull him out quick and it doesn't
work out, you kick yourself. If you leave him in and it doesn't work
out, you kick yourself.
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"You just have to put it out of your mind."
After the damaging double, Ventura brought in Putnam, and the
right-hander, who grew up some 45 miles away in Ann Arbor, MI,
struck out left fielder Yoenis Cespedes on an 0-2 split-finger and
got right fielder J.D. Martinez to foul out to first on a 3-2 pitch.
He struck out third baseman Nick Castellanos on a 2-2 splitter and
got McCann down 0-2. But his last pitch was up way too much and the
Tigers' rookie catcher split it from the scene into the left field
stands.
"It was a splitter," McCann said. "That's his out pitch. It was 0-2
and I was just looking for something up I could hit."
Samardzija had taken a two-hit shutout into the eighth before
trouble struck. He walked three and struck out four.
Center fielder Adam Eaton tripled down the right field line in the
sixth and designated hitter Jose Abreu was hit by a pitch. Right
fielder Avisail Garcia lined a single over second to put Chicago
ahead, 3-0, and first baseman Adam LaRoche hit a sacrifice fly to
left for a 4-0 lead.
Abreu doubled down the left field line in the fourth and advanced to
third when Cespedes fell down trying to throw the ball to third.
Garcia's sacrifice fly to left broke a scoreless tie and left
fielder Melky Cabrera made it 2-0 with a solo home run, his second,
on a 2-2 pitch by left-hander David Price, who lasted six innings
and struck out five without a walk. Four of the six hits he allowed
were turned into Chicago runs.
NOTES: RHP Justin Verlander is now scheduled to return to Detroit's
rotation Tuesday against visiting Pittsburgh, Ausmus said after the
game. ... DH Jose Abreu, who normally hits third for Chicago, was in
the second spot in the White Sox order Sunday. He reached base twice
and scored both times. ... 1B Miguel Cabrera is the fifth player in
major league history to have at least 2,200 hits, 400 home runs,
1,400 RBI and 900 extra base hits by his age 32 season (Hank Aaron,
Jimmie Foxx, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols). ... LHP John Danks,
bypassed in the rotation after his start Saturday was rained out,
will return to the rotation on Friday, Chicago manager Robin Ventura
said Sunday. ... McCann is the third player in major league history
to have two walk-off home runs among his first three.
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