Rodón stays hot as Longoria helps Giants beat Tigers, 3-1
DETROIT — Carlos Rodón continued his hot streak with seven strong innings on Tuesday night as the San Francisco Giants survived a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the ninth inning and beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1.
Evan Longoria homered for the Giants, who won their eighth straight interleague game on the road.
Rodón allowed one run on five hits and struck out 10 without walking a batter. He is 4-0 in his last five starts with a 1.44 ERA and has now recorded eight double-digit strikeout games this season.
"The fastball/slider combination was really good and (catcher Austin Wynns) had a good feel for the pitch calling — we were on the same page all night," Rodón said. "The bullpen did a good job and we scored when we needed it. Now we just have to win another one tomorrow."
Rodón is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in five starts against the Tigers in the last two seasons.
"I've seen them and they've seen me, so they have a plan against me and I know what I want to do against them," Rodón said. "I think it evens out. I've gotten them the last few times, but they've gotten me in the past."
The Tigers put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth on Victor Reyes' double and Javier Báez's infield single. Camilo Doval, who slipped trying to field Báez's grounder, then walked Eric Haase on four pitches to load the bases for Miguel Cabrera.
Cabrera took a called third strike on the outside corner on the ninth pitch of the at-bat and Harold Castro grounded out to give Doval his 18th save.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Doval "had a little bit more time and he rushed it a little" when trying to field Báez's grounder.
"But his stuff is good that he can beat some of the best hitters in the game," Kapler said. "Miggy gave him a sensational battle, and he was still able to execute that slider when he needed it."
Drew Hutchison (1-7) took the loss, allowing one run on four hits and two walks in five innings.
"I thought I threw the ball well," Hutchison said. "I was a little shaky early, but I got myself into better counts as the game went along."
The Giants took a 1-0 lead on Joc Pederson's first-inning RBI single, but couldn't score again against Hutchison.
They had better luck against Daniel Norris, though. He retired the first two batters in the sixth, but Pederson walked and Longoria followed with a long home run to left.
"Those walks will come back to bite you at the worst time, and that was pretty much the worst possible sequence for Daniel after he got the first two outs," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "He was trying to go down and away, yanked it over the plate and Evan Longoria doesn't miss many of those."
Detroit didn't get a runner past first base until the sixth inning. With two out, Riley Greene was credited with a single when Rodón dropped a throw from first baseman Wilmer Flores, and he took second on a wild pitch. Rodón struck out Reyes on the next pitch.
"The guys played great defense behind me. I was the one who messed up," Rodón said. "Luckily, it didn't come back to bite us."
Báez led off the seventh with a bloop single and stole second before scoring on Haase's base hit. Rodón got Cabrera to hit into a double play before striking out Harold Castro.
"We had a lot of swing-and-misses tonight," Hinch said. "You've got to put the ball into play to win games, and he was in command for most of the night."
LONGORIA'S LONG BALLS
Longoria has 16 homers in 65 games against the Tigers, and his .307 batting average against them is second only to his .361 against the Mets.
"(Longoria) is swinging the bat really well right now, and we owe it to him to make sure we keep him in a position to do that," Kapler said. "We have to listen to the signals he's getting from his body and make sure he's getting enough rest."
TRAINER'S ROOM
The Tigers placed 2B Jonathan Schoop (ankle) on the injured list, retroactive to Aug. 21, and recalled INF Zack Short from Triple-A Toledo.
INTERLEAGUE LEGEND
Rodón has won his last eight interleague starts, never allowing more than one run. He has tied Mark Mulder for the second-longest streak in major-league history, one behind Freddy Garcia's 2001-03 streak with Seattle.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their two-game series on Wednesday afternoon, with Detroit's Matt Manning (0-1, 2.81) facing Logan Webb (11-6, 3.08).