Tigers’ Holton returns as G1 starter vs. Guardians
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
CLEVELAND — It worked once, so why not try it again?
That’s the attitude the Detroit Tigers are taking in tabbing lefty Tyler Holton to start Game 1 of their American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.
Holton, 28, started the Game 2 clincher against the Houston Astros in the wild-card round Wednesday, won by the Tigers 5-2. He pitched one inning in that game and is likely to do the same Saturday. Holton will be the fourth pitcher in the past 10 postseasons to start back-to-back postseason games, according to ESPN Research.
“As usual, we’re going to go a lot of different ways,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said in making the announcement. “We’re going to use our relievers as we need to, and having an extra off day between those games is probably an advantage for every single pitcher in this series, including our guys.”
Game 2 isn’t until Monday which is followed by another day off as the series shifts to Detroit. Holton appeared in 66 games during the regular season, making nine starts but overall throwing just 94.1 innings. He has thrown 18.2 shutout innings against the Guardians over the past two seasons.
“The slow heartbeat allows me to deploy him at any time,” Hinch said. “I think he’s pitched in every inning, including the 10th.”
Holton was asked what it’s like starting a playoff game.
“Mentally, it was not any different for my preparation, but it was very special,” he said.
He’ll be opposed by righty Tanner Bibee, who is making his first career postseason appearance after finishing second in AL Rookie of the Year voting last season.
“I feel like it didn’t really hit me until I figured out who we were playing, and once Detroit won that series, it was like, ‘Oh, this is getting real,'” Bibee said Friday. “And I’ve had butterflies ever since, and it’s really exciting. … I’m excited to feel the energy.”
Bibee went 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA over 31 starts this season — four of them against the Tigers. He was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in those four outings.
“It’s a very different team [from earlier in the year],” Bibee said. “I’ve faced them. They’ve faced me. I feel like it’s not really an advantage or disadvantage.”
Hinch said Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal will start Game 2 for the Tigers, while the Guardians have yet to name a starting pitcher for Monday’s contest.
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
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