Zach McKinstry's Huge Night Leads Tigers to Win over Pirates
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The Detroit Tigers bullpen almost blew another game but they held on and won the opening game of their road series at the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 on Monday at PNC Park. And the main reason why the Tigers came out with the win was because of Zach McKinstry.
McKinstry finished the game for the Tigers going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a run driven in for Detroit. McKinstry had been struggling in his past few games where he only had one hit in his last six games combined.
But the right fielder for the Tigers and manager AJ Hinch, was able to figure some things out at the plate and had a huge night. McKinstry was not the only one that had a good night as Hao Yu-Lee collected three hits and Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark collected two hits each for the Tigers.
The Tigers offense needed a night like this as they unfortunately dropped a crucial home series to the Chicago White Sox before their Pirates series. The Tigers need to find more of that offense as this series continues on Tuesday.
The Tigers could be a playoff team if the offense keeps taking off
When the Tigers desparately need offense the most, they look to guys like McGonigle and guys like Riley Greene who is on the injured list. But the Tigers being able to breakout and score eight runs against a Pirates team right on the edge of the postseason in the National League, is a good sign.
The Tigers need to find a way to score more runs on a consistent basis knowing the season is coming to a close real soon and that they find themselves in the American League wild card playoff race. The Tigers have little room for error as they know where they stand and what it will take to make October.
The Tigers usual downfall is their pitching from year-to-year, but some of their bats currently occupy spots on the injured list and they are going to need to get them back soon. McKinstry also needs to find a way to be more consistent at the plate soon.
Maybe having a game like he did on Monday night in Pittsburgh is going to spark something for when he comes to the plate for the rest of the season. He has been very disappointing offensively this season but Hinch hopes a performance like this found something in his bat.
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Tyler Miller is a 26-year-old Sports Journalist who has had a passion for writing ever since graduating from Georgia Southern University with a Journalism degree in 2022. Tyler has been writing about sports for going on 8 years now. Tyler has been a Detroit Tigers fan ever since Miguel Cabrera was tearing up the league in the early 2000s and has followed them from there till now with superstar Kevin McGonigle being in the mix. Tyler also has had experience writing for FanSided in the past where he was a site expert and a contributor across different sites.