It wasn’t a walkoff because the Tigers were on the road. Politics, man. Sheesh. But it was a two-run homer in the ninth to win the game for the Tigers by catcher Alex Avila, and that’s something. Jose Veras, the man who gave up the bomb, described it:
“Sometimes things don’t go your way. That is a hitter that has been hitting .160-something, .170 and .150 against the fastball. He hit a pitch down and away out of the ballpark. You can’t say anything to it other than he made good contact.”
The Tigers have to hope that this is a turning point for Avila, who has been pretty awful at the plate so far this year. That homer was his fourth, but he’s otherwise hitting a paltry .179/.247/.333.
Meanwhile, the Astros have dropped eight of nine. I’m going to create a macro for that sentence, by the way, as I figure I’ll be using it a lot between now and September.