MINNEAPOLIS – Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had one goal for Jackson Jobe on Saturday.
“I think he needs to be a little more unpredictable,” Hinch said Saturday morning before the Tigers played the Minnesota Twins. “He needs to use his whole arsenal, which in the heat of the moment, it can be hard, especially for young players. But I think his appetite to be great is real.”
Then, Jobe went out and was wonderfully unpredictable against the Twins, mixing a nasty fastball, cutter, curve and changeup in a 4-0 victory over the Twins at Target Field.
Jobe, the top Tigers prospect, struck out two, walked just one and allowed two hits in six scoreless innings.
“He has a ton of weapons to use,” Hinch said. “The more the hitter has to deal with, the better.”
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It was a game of firsts for Jobe: his first big-league win, his time getting through six innings, his first time holding a team scoreless in a start and his first quality start.
And that follows another monumental first that he had already accomplished: Jobe was the first starting pitcher to make the Tigers Opening Day roster at age 22 or younger since Rick Porcello in 2011.
As Jobe walked off the field after the sixth inning, at a moment the Tigers held a comfortable 4-0 lead, Hinch stood up and started applauding in the dugout. Then, he gave him a firm, end-of-outing handshake.
“His stuff is electric,” Hinch said before the game. “Everything is new for him. There’s a microscope on him. Even going into this game, everybody knows who he is and expects perfection.”
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And he handled the pressure with ease.
While Jobe was doing his thing, the Tigers put up their own first in this three-game series: The Tigers (9-5) have now won four series in a row after getting swept in their first series of the season for the first time in franchise history.
First and foremost
The Tigers came into this game with 13 first-inning runs this season, the most in the American League. And they added another on Saturday by doing all the little things right.
Zach McKinstry opened the game with a walk, Kerry Carpenter singled and they both advanced on a throwing error by Carlos Correa.
That set up Spencer Torkelson, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.
Tork Bomb: Watch out below!
Before the game on Saturday, the Twins called up left-handed pitcher Kody Funderburk from Triple-A St. Paul.
He was brought into the game in the sixth inning and Funderburk promptly got “Tork Bombed.”
Spencer Torkelson hit a monstrous two-run home run, smoking a slider that Funderburk left over the middle of the plate. The ball bounced off the facing in the upper deck, a blast that measured 421 feet.
Torkelson was 2-for-3, scored two runs and knocked in three, lifting his batting average to .314.
The birthday boy
Back-up catcher Tomas Nido, who turned 31 on Saturday, got the start at catcher for the Tigers. Nido was called up when Jake Rogers got hurt and he gives the Tigers a veteran presence. Nido has 324 games of experience.
“He’s been in the league,” Hinch said on April 8. “He’s caught high-end pitching; he’s played in the big market. He’s going to be completely comfortable.”
Nido was comfortable. And more importantly, he made Jobe feel comfortable.
And the birthday boy caught a win.
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Little things become big things
In the top of the fourth, Colt Keith came up with runners on first and second with no outs.
And he did his job.
Keith moved the runners with a ground ball to the right side of the infield.
That set up Justyn-Henry Malloy, who lifted a long fly ball to right that scored a run.
But the real key?
The Keith groundout.
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff
