2024 MLB Playoffs: Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter emerge as Tigers' latest unlikely heroes in ALDS Game 3 victory

DETROIT – Brant Hurter was on the move.

After entering the game in the second inning to replace fellow rookie Keider Montero, the 26-year-old southpaw managed more than three frames without much trouble in the opening stages of Detroit's 3-0 win over Cleveland in Game 3 of the ALDS on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers' hitters had added a few runs in support, extending the leash for manager AJ Hinch to allow Hurter to accumulate as many outs as possible before making another call to the bullpen.

But at the end of the fifth, Cleveland had a lot to offer. After Hurter catcher Bo Naylor struck out for the first time, No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio and leadoff man Steven Kwan collected consecutive base hits. The lefty hurter seemed like a good match against Cleveland's troublesome leader, but Kwan put paid to that strategy.

“Not everything is planned perfectly the way you want it to be,” Hinch said ahead of this series when asked about his mantra for officiating postseason games. “At some point someone is going to hit you in the mouth and you have to react.”

Hinch paused, then added, “That’s why we have Beau Brieske.”

It was a well-delivered line that drew laughter from the room at the time, but it was rooted in the cold truth: Time and time again, when things go wrong, Hinch turns to Brieske.

When Hurter got into trouble in the fifth inning on Wednesday, Hinch knew exactly who to call.

With David Fry scheduled to bat and then the ever-dangerous José Ramírez on deck, Brieske trotted in from the bullpen to put out another fire. It took four throws for him to knock out Fry, a quick strike punctuated by a nasty slider for a swing strike three.

“Beau has a really great opportunity. In a perfect world, I would like to field these guys, clean innings, big lead, deep breathing and attack guys they can keep up with – and that never happens, especially in October,” the Tigers captain said after the game. “So striking is the key. Be at your best from the first pitch.”

Brieske then relied on his transition to neutralize Ramírez, who flew harmlessly into midfield to end the frame.

“You see the speed increasing. You see the execution of big pitches to get the first batter out,” Hinch said afterward. “And our guys understand that they are put in this position because every single person who wears the English D knows they can do the job and they continue to respond.”

Brieske wasn't finished yet either. He returned for the sixth inning and put Cleveland's 4-5-6 hitters in order. He came through again in the seventh game, adding another punchout before departing to thunderous applause from the 44,885 spectators at Comerica Park – the largest crowd for a postseason game in the ballpark's history – enjoying every second of his first playoff game since a decade.

“He’s got great stuff. He has four good throws,” catcher Jake Rogers told Yahoo Sports. “He’s got an electric heater that has a really good lift and it’s hard to catch up with him. And then he has to keep a sinker.” Honest righties and a variety to keep both righties and lefties honest. It's an all-around mix, and he throws 98, and it's the mentality that we preach: “Hey, just throw strikes and your stuff will come out.”

In fact: That's why the Tigers have Beau Brieske. It was his fourth appearance this October and he has yet to allow a goal.

Not bad for a 27th-round draft pick from Colorado State-Pueblo, a Division II school.

Brieske and Hurter were key players in Detroit's recent postseason victory, powered by a pitching staff that was used in unpredictable ways. Montero was announced as the starting pitcher on Wednesday morning, and given his admirable performance in a rotational role for the Tigers in the second half, he appeared poised to give Detroit some length from the start of the game.

But like any Tigers game not started by Tarik Skubal, you can't really know which pitcher Hinch will rely on the most until the game actually starts. In this case, it was Hurter who emerged as the so-called “bulk guy” after Montero pitched a scoreless first inning with just six pitches.

Hurter filled that role well during the regular season, posting a 2.58 ERA in 45 1/3 innings over 10 games despite starting only one of them. When Detroit nearly threw a combined no-hitter against the Orioles in September, it was Hurter who got 17 of the 27 outs in the middle inning. In his postseason debut against the Astros, he was one of seven Tigers to collect five outs in Detroit's pitching mayhem in Game 2.

On Wednesday, Hurter served as a bridge to Brieske and beyond as the Tigers' bullpen once again demonstrated its strength.

“He's cool. Even for righties, it’s tough,” Rogers said. “I can't even imagine being a left-handed player in the penalty area. Sometimes it’s hard to catch – and when it’s hard to catch, it’s hard to hit.”

Offered Hinch: “I mean, with this kind of strategy that we have, we can obviously give different guys different looks. There's a 6-foot-6 lefty (in Hurter) to some fireball righties, to (Tyler) Holton throwing backdoor cutters, to Brieske throwing turbo sinkers and changeups.”

In the seventh game, it was Will Vest's turn to put an end to a Cleveland rally. With two outs and runners on first and second, he faced Fry. Vest unleashed six 97-98 mph heaters, the last of which Fry connected with to make a hard liner toward third base — only to see Matt Vierling jump to end the frame. It was such a day for the Guardians' offense, a continuation of a frustrating stretch that has Cleveland's season on the brink of elimination.

Ever since Cleveland's bats exploded for five runs before recording an out in Game 1, they have been ice cold. The Guardians have scored just two runs in their last 26 innings, both in the sixth inning of Game 1. It's particularly worrisome déjà vu considering the Guardians had similar problems in their last postseason appearance in 2022. But this drought has reached a previously unforeseen level of offensive ineptitude: It is the first time in franchise history that Cleveland has been shut out in consecutive postseason games.

Detroit's lineup wasn't particularly explosive on Wednesday – Cleveland actually outscored Detroit 6 to 5 – but the shots were much more timely. Unlike Game 2, when there was a 0-0 tie in the ninth inning until Kerry Carpenter's epic hit off Emmanuel Clase, Detroit didn't wait to give its pitching staff run support. Riley Greene provided a quick break in the bottom of the first with a base hit up the middle and scored for Parker Meadows, who led off the game with a single.

It was the first run Greene scored this postseason, perhaps a sign of things to come for the 24-year-old, whose rise from promising talent to full-fledged All-Star represents a crucial development in Detroit's rise.

“He was under a lot of pressure at times this season because he was the guy that every other manager had to fight against,” Hinch said of Greene before Game 3. “They brought in their best backups, they brought in their left-hander, they brought in everyone they could to take care of Riley while the rest of the squad was trying to figure it out. He hasn't changed. He didn't panic. He didn't stress. He just tried to do his part.

“He was one of the first people I met when I got the job because I knew, as the organization had told me, that he was a central part of what was going to go well in the future and they were absolutely right. “

Vierling scored a second run in the third inning with a sac fly. Spencer Torkelson blasted a double to left field to score Detroit's third run in the sixth, a welcome sight after the former No. 1 draft pick started his first 0-for-14 game in October with nine strikeouts. It wasn't much, but Detroit proved it can win games with a well-sequenced attack rather than an overwhelming offensive performance. Cleveland's lineup did the same over the course of the regular season, but failed to prevail as the stakes escalated. This is a trend that needs to be reversed quickly if the Guardians want to take this series to Game 5 at home.

Tanner Bibee will take the ball for Cleveland in Game 4 on Thursday, but even a strong effort from the right-hander could prove futile if the bats don't wake up. Detroit, meanwhile, will again use an unspecified sequence of weapons. That's exactly how they like it.

The Tigers are just one win away from the ALCS and have a chance to punch their ticket to the next round at home on Thursday. For Rogers, the Tigers' longest-tenured player and the only remaining player from the 2019 team that lost 114 games, Game 3 was a huge validation of what Comerica Park can offer as a postseason venue.

“It was amazing, man,” he said. “I grabbed Holton after the game when he was on the mound and said, 'Man, let that sink in.' This doesn't happen very often and it's really cool to see and hear the sights and sounds.

“(The fans) were loud and did what they had to do. They want to see playoff baseball here and we gave them a good game.”