DETROIT — Brant Hurter was cruising. Having entered the game in the second inning in relief of fellow rookie Keider Montero, the 26-year-old southpaw had navigated three-plus frames in the early stages of over Cleveland in without much trouble. The Tigers’ hitters had provided a couple of runs of support, extending the leash for manager AJ Hinch to let Hurter collect as many outs as possible before making another call to the bullpen.
But in the top of the fifth, Cleveland had something cooking. After Hurter retired catcher Bo Naylor for the first out, No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio and leadoff man Steven Kwan collected consecutive base hits.
The lefty Hurter had appeared to be a favorable matchup against Cleveland’s pesky leadoff man, but Kwan spoiled that strategy. “Not everything is perfectly as planned as you want it to be,” Hinch said ahead of this series when asked about his mantra for managing postseason games. “Somebody is going to punch you in the mouth at some point, and you gotta react.
” Hinch paused and then offered this follow-up: “That's why we have Beau Brieske.” It was a well-delivered line that elicited laughter in the room at the time, but it was rooted in the stone-cold truth: Time and again, when things start to go sideways, Hinch turns to Brieske. So when Hurter found himself in trouble in the fifth inning Wednesday, Hinch knew exactly whom to call.
AJ Hinch with a great remix of the postseason cliché about how you respond when you “get .