Troy Melton rarely shows much emotion on the mound or in the dugout, reflecting his cool California personality. He has been known to carry the look of calm sitting in the dugout between innings, like a form of meditation. After coming off the mound Monday afternoon with two outs in the sixth inning, however, having given up a two-run double to Twins rookie Walker Jenkins, Melton sat down and slammed his glove against the dugout bench in frustration, reminiscent of a young Tarik Skubal. The Tigers were still in front, but only by a run. And after three walk-off losses in Cleveland over the weekend, the Tigers didn’t want to watch a lead slip away again. “I think that’s why it’s so frustrating; it’s always close like that,” Melton explained after Detroit’s 5-4 victory. “The game is won and lost on margins like that. I have to make better pitches there in that at-bat.” Melton wasn’t the only one. Two innings later, Drew Sommers could only shake his head after his attempt at Luke Keaschall’s comebacker deflected the ball into open infeld between first and second base. Not only was the inning not over, the potential tying run moved from first to third. Sommers was still shaking his head after retiring Brooks Lee on a fly ball to right to end the threat. To say the Tigers needed this one was an understatement, which made center fielder Max Clark’s steadiness on Ryan Jeffers’ ninth-inning drive a source of calm against panic.
