August 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Detroit Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows (22) holds the bases after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports Parker Meadows has made a huge impact for the Detroit Tigers since coming off the injured list.
The rookie center fielder had his third consecutive two-hitter and robbed Seattle’s Carl Rowley of a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning on Wednesday night to help the visiting Tigers win 6-2. .
Detroit will sweep the three-game series Thursday night in Seattle.
“It was a great play, a game-changer,” Detroit coach AJ Hinch said of Meadows’ catch. “When the ball hits center, I feel solid because you feel like Parker is going to catch it.”
Meadows, who has been sidelined for nearly a month with a strained right hamstring, is 6-for-14 (.429) since returning Saturday against Kansas City. He followed that up with a pair of singles on Wednesday with a run-scoring single and a 415-foot home run to center field the night before as the Tigers won the series opener in Seattle 4-2. .
The next night, however, those moments were overshadowed by his catch, which preserved the victory for left-hander Tarik Skubal.
After the Tigers took a 3-2 lead and had a double and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Rowley hit a two-run home run to center in the fourth inning and hit a blast. Deep-center reliever Jason Foley.
The 6-foot-5 Meadows, nicknamed “Baby Giraffe” for his lanky frame, leaned back against the wall, perfectly timed his jump, reached over the top of the wall, and caught the ball. Meadows yelled, patted his chest in celebration, and started running back to the dugout.
“My job is to go up to the wall, find a spot, look up and look for it,” Meadows said. “In that situation, it’s cool. You see the emotion. I don’t do that very often.”
Skubal, who attends Seattle University, allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings to boost his American League Cy Young Award candidacy. Not only is Skubal tied for the American League lead in wins (13) with Kansas City’s Seth Lugo and Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez, but his ERA (2.57) and He also led the league in strikeouts (171), making him a rare pitcher contender.
“It’s always fun for me to pitch here,” said Skubal, who had a large crowd of RedHawks fans in attendance. “But I can’t make the game any bigger than it is. It’s definitely a challenge when I pitch here, but it’s fun.”
The Mariners lost their third straight game and trail the Houston Astros by a half-game in the AL West.
“This is a game where you have to stay tight and you hope to get a big hit at the end of the game to win the game,” Mariners head coach Scott Servais said of Wednesday’s loss. “We did everything right. They just finished the game. (Meadows) finished the game.”
Rowley said the Mariners lacked energy the past two nights.
“We have to go,” he said. “Things happen, you can’t play perfect every game, but we can bring energy into every game and we absolutely have to start, night after night.
“This time of year. Everybody is tired. Everybody is injured. Every team, every player has their own thing. We can’t sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. We have to keep moving forward.”
Mariners right-hander Brian Wu (5-1, 2.08 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the series finale, when he will face the Detroit Pistons for the first time. The Tigers have not named a starter and will likely have a bullpen session.
–Scene-level media
