The Detroit Tigers infield has a new look.
The Tigers called up third baseman Jace Jung and shortstop Trey Sweeney from Triple-A Toledo on Friday. The prospects made their major league debuts in a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees.
Jung walked twice and struck out twice, while Sweeney had one hit in three at-bats.
The teams will play the second game of the three-game series in Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers’ front office could have waited until September to make the callups but decided to give both players a little extra major league experience.
“Six weeks is better than five weeks, which is better than four weeks when September gets here,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “The more time that we could have, the better. The faster we get these guys acclimated to being big leaguers, the better they’ll be. We’ve seen that with every young player.”
Left-hander Carlos Rodon (13-7, 4.18 ERA) will start the middle game of the series for the Yankees. Last Saturday, Rodon blanked Texas for 5 2/3 innings despite issuing a season-high five walks. Rodon required a season-high 110 pitches.
Rodon faced the Tigers quite often as a member of the Chicago White Sox from 2015-21. He’s made 12 career starts against them, posting a 6-3 record and 5.21 ERA.
He’ll be opposed by rookie right-hander Keider Montero (3-5, 5.76), who has allowed four or more earned runs in five of his last six starts. However, Montero has collected wins in his last two outings.
He limited Seattle to one run over six innings, then gave up four runs on five hits in five-plus innings against San Francisco on Sunday. Montero gave up two runs in the first, then tossed four scoreless innings. He was removed after allowing two baserunners in the sixth, both of whom scored.
“At the beginning I was a little uncomfortable with the mound,” Montero said through an interpreter. “The first two innings I was not myself. After that I made the adjustment with my mechanics. … I wasn’t landing in the right spot. Once I fixed the landing spot, I felt better.”
Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza paid immediate dividends after being recalled from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Peraza homered in his second major league at-bat this season in New York’s 3-0 win. Peraza appeared in 70 Yankees games the past two seasons.
“I’m eager to see what he can do up here and he’s got that kind of ability,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he looked smooth over at third and that easy pop (home run), he’s capable of doing that. Just excited that he’s in a good place because he’s a guy that can really contribute.”
Peraza had eight homers and 37 RBIs with a .244 average in 65 games at the Triple-A level.
“It means a lot to finally get a chance to get in the lineup and have an opportunity to contribute right there,” he said through an interpreter. “I’ve been working a lot at Triple A and it’s great to be able to come up here and contribute.”
Aaron Judge added to his major league-leading home run total. His solo shot in the eighth landed an estimated 431 feet from the plate.
Judge’s major-league-leading 44th homer of the season was the 301st of his career. He hit No. 300 against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
