'Too many mistakes:' Tigers blow lead in 9th, drop series finale to Guardians in 10th

CLEVELAND — No mincing of words after this one.

"You saw the mistakes," manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers were walked off in the 10th inning, losing to the Cleveland Guardians, 5-4, at Progressive Field on Wednesday. "Too many mistakes. Pick a side of the ball and we didn't do enough to win the game. This one got away because we put ourselves in a really tough spot."

The Guardians were gifted two unearned runs in this one. Javier Báez, the Tigers' free runner in the top of the 10th, was thrown out trying to scramble back to second base on a ground ball right at the shortstop. The offense scored four runs in the fourth inning (doubles by Kerry Carpenter and Zach McKinstry and a two-run single by Colt Keith), but had just two base runners after that.

"We just didn't get it done," said catcher Jake Rogers, whose first error of the season contributed to an unearned run in the eighth inning.

The Tigers were within two outs of securing the first win of the season for right-hander Reese Olson, who pitched masterfully for six innings and left with a 4-2 lead. But the eighth and ninth innings will probably leave a mark for at least another day.

Lefty Joey Wentz, who got the final out in the seventh, gave up a single to No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio to start the eighth. Wentz threw over twice to hold Rocchio close, but on a third-strike pitch to Estevan Florial, Rocchio took off for second. Rogers’ throw went into center field and Rocchio jogged into third base.

"Oh yeah," Rogers said when asked if the throw sailed out of his hand. "Felt incredible. Just threw it into center field."

Rocchio scored on a check-swing groundout by Andres Gimenez.

"It's more about that eighth inning and the cheap run," Hinch said. "We gave them a full trip around the bases."

That run made it a one-swing game and the Guardians got that swing in the bottom of the ninth. After lefty Andrew Chafin struck out left-handed hitting Josh Naylor, right-handed hitting David Fry lofted a sinker that was off the plate outside and sent it high in the air down the line in right field. It flew 334 feet and fell inside the foul pole.

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