The Detroit Tigers ended their six-game losing streak on Thursday with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. And they did it despite the fact that their star shortstop Javier Baez was benched after two innings.
Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch decided to remove Baez from the game ahead of the third inning after the 30-year-old made two uncharacteristic mistakes. He first hit a double off the wall and made a slow run out of the batter’s box, presumably thinking he hit a home run. Then on the next play, he lost count of the outs and ended up being doubled to wrap up the inning.
“My mind is everywhere right now,” Baez said after the game. “I’m just trying to focus on my hitting and my timing. The only reason I lost the count of the outs, it was because I was hitting sixth. I thought I was the third batter in that inning. That’s the only reason.”
While Baez wasn’t happy with Hinch’s decision, he said he respected it.
“He made the decision, and I respect it. He’s the manager, and we got to respect what he does,” he added.
Hinch confirmed that Baez’s benching was just for the Blue Jays game and that the player will be back as a starter for the upcoming game against the San Francisco Giants.
“I don’t want to take out one of our starters who’s a premium player. But I also don’t want to see a team make mental mistakes,” Hinch explained.
Javier Baez joined the Tigers ahead of the 2022 MLB season on a six-year, $140 million contract. He is batting .122 in 12 games this season and has one RBI with zero homers.
