Before we get to the celebration — the gritty Detroit Tigers are back at Comerica Park.
Before we get to Spencer Torkelson's walk-off double on Sunday afternoon.
Let's go back. Because it started with some hustle.
In the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers were losing 3-1 to the Chicago White Sox when Trey Sweeney hustled down the line and beat out a throw to first, preventing a double play.
That was the first huge play.
[ NEW TIGERS NEWSLETTER! Sign up for The Purr-fect Game, a weekly dose of Tigers news, numbers and analysis for Freep subscribers, here. ]
Then, it continued with some fight.
Zach McKinstry battled his way through a 10-pitch walk. And then came another one. Riley Greene walked to load the bases.
And then, Andy Ibáñez walked, setting up the magic.
Torkelson crushed a double for the thrilling game-winner, 4-3.
Jackson Jobe's first home start
Everything is still a learning experience for Jackson Jobe — the top pitching prospect in baseball.
And there was another lesson learned in his first start in Comerica Park on Sunday.
“Everything is pretty new for Jackson,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Sunday's game. “He'll flash incredible stuff, and then he'll flash incredible execution. And I think what he's going to learn is, when we can marry those two together, he's going to have some really incredible outings.”
It wasn't quite married together early on Sunday afternoon.
Jobe gave up two runs in the first inning, although he didn’t get much help defensively. After Andrew Vaughn singled on a line drive to right field, Andrew Benintendi advanced to third on a fielding error by right fielder Manuel Margot.
Then, Benintendi scored on a Matt Thaiss sacrifice fly to center.
Jobe didn’t help himself in the fourth inning, either. Thaiss hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Jobe fielded and threw wild to first (it was ruled a hit). After a walk and a bunt, Thaiss scored on a sacrifice fly, which felt self-inflicted.
“It's all a learning process for him,” Hinch said Sunday pregame.
Jobe threw five innings, allowing four hits and three runs — two of which were earned.
But he's also learning behind the scenes.
“He's learning Day 2 bullpen versus Day 3 bullpen, as opposed to ...
