Detroit Tigers waste Reese Olson's eight scoreless innings, lose to Marlins, 1-0, in 10 innings
Miami Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers, a former top prospect and the son of 19-year MLB pitcher David Weathers, took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers broke up the perfect game with a leadoff single from Wenceel Pérez in the sixth inning, only for Javier Báez to ground into a double play. Weathers, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 draft, faced the minimum 20 batters until Mark Canha's two-out single in the seventh inning.
It was a classic battle between two pitchers, as right-hander Reese Olson matched Weathers' eight scoreless innings by firing eight scoreless innings of his own.
The Tigers lost the pitching duel, 1-0 to the Marlins in the 10th inning Tuesday night at Comerica Park, the second of three games in the series. The Marlins scored in the top of the 10th inning on a ground-ball force out, whereas the Tigers (21-21) failed to score in the bottom of the 10th.
Olson, who has received just eight runs of support from the offense in 47⅓ innings this season, pitched into the eighth inning and completed the eight innings for the first time in his MLB career, spanning 25 starts in two seasons.
The Tigers and Marlins took a 0-0 tie into the ninth inning.
Right-handed reliever Jason Foley, who works as the closer, replaced Olson for the top of the ninth inning. He retired all three batters he faced, including a strikeout of pinch-hitter Jake Burger to begin the ninth.
For the Marlins, left-handed reliever Tanner Scott replaced Weathers for the bottom of the ninth.
Scott allowed a one-out single to Matt Vierling and a one-out walk to Canha, putting the game in the hands of Riley Greene. But Greene grounded out on a down-and-away slider below the strike zone to strand two runners, sending the game to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th inning, the Marlins took a 1-0 lead when Bryan De La Cruz — the free runner in extra innings — scored from third base when Jesús Sánchez grounded into a force out against right-handed reliever Alex Lange. Before that, De La Cruz advanced to third base on Josh Bell's leadoff single into center field.
The Tigers didn't get the job done in the bottom of the 10th against left-handed reliever A.J. Puk, stranding free runner Riley Greene at third base.
Spencer Torkelson, whose hitting streak ended at eight games, popped out to the third-base side in foul territory. Gio Urshela, making his return from the injured list, flew out to right field, advancing Greene to third base.
Pérez flew out to end the game.
As a result of the pitching duel, Weathers lowered his ERA from 4.54 to 3.81 in his ninth start; Olson dropped his from 2.52 to 2.09 in his eighth start.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Reese Olson
Olson received the handshake from manager A.J. Hinch after completing the eighth inning.
The 24-year-old threw eight scoreless innings on three hits and six strikeouts, without a walk. He tossed 60 of 96 pitches for strikes, and he generated 13 whiffs on 45 swings. He dominated by locating pitches at the bottom of the strike zone.
The three hits against him: Bell's single in the first inning on a slider, Otto Lopez's single in the fifth inning on a sinker and Sánchez's single in the seventh inning on a slider. The hits from Bell and Sánchez occurred with two outs.
Olson recorded his 13 whiffs with six sliders, three fastballs, three changeups and one sinker. The Marlins averaged an 89.4 mph exit velocity on 20 balls in play.
Ryan Weathers
Weathers, also 24, tossed eight scoreless innings on there hits and four strikeouts, without a walk. An array of ground balls helped Weathers dominate the Tigers.
He threw 65 of 97 pitches for strikes, and he generated just five whiffs on 52 swings with one fastball, one changeup and three sweepers. He threw 47% four-seam fastballs.
His fastball averaged 96.4 mph.
The three hits against him: Pérez's single in the fifth inning on a fastball, Canha's single in the seventh inning on a fastball and Pérez's single in the eighth inning on a fastball. After the hits from Pérez, Báez grounded out to end the innings.
Weathers' father, David, pitched more than 1,300 MLB innings from 1991-2009 — starting just 69 of 964 games — for the Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers waste Reese Olson's gem, lose to Marlins, 1-0, in 10
