To the delight of the fans, Jackson Jobe completed the Tigers' win in their MLB debut

Detroit – The Tigers were prepared and had a hype video in their pocket. Fans were prepared, chanting “We Want Jobe” in the late innings as he warmed up in the bullpen.

And most importantly, Jackson Jobe, the top pitching prospect in the game, was ready for the moment, that highly anticipated major league debut now officially in the books – a scoreless ninth inning on Wednesday night to cap it off a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at raucous Comercia Park, where the Tigers moved closer to an incredible playoff berth.

Jobe, the Tigers' first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in 2021, needed nine pitches to get through the ninth round and worked his way around a single out, a day after he surprisingly struck out in the middle of Detroit's last Playoffs were called press.

“I mean, it was crazy,” said Jobe, his long hair still soaked from his postgame shower. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. It would be difficult to put it better given the crowd and the position this team is in.”

“It was pretty cool. It was definitely pretty cool.”

The Tigers, left for dead less than two months ago, have gotten back into this thing, taking control of a wild-card spot thanks to a school bus full of kids. So why not add one more?

That's what President Scott Harris, manager AJ Hinch and CEO Chris Ilitch decided on Sunday night when the Tigers returned from Baltimore. Jobe's season at Triple-A Toledo was over, but his season, as it turned out, wasn't.

The Tigers want to have all sorts of weapons on board for what lies ahead, and Jobe is just that, another weapon who will work out of the bullpen for as long as the Tigers see fit – probably into the Going into the postseason, Detroit should hold on. He is postseason eligible and could bring back memories of similar late-season outings over the years, such as Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels in 2002 and David Price of the Rays in 2008.

Hinch really wanted Jobe to make his debut in this Rays series, but Hinch needs to win these games too. Nothing is over yet, even though Fangraphs now has a 91.1% chance that the Tigers will make it. The magic number is decreasing but is not zero. Jobe warmed up along with closer Jason Foley in the eighth inning when Detroit had a four-run lead. The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to give them a six-run lead, which made Hinch's decision easier and called Jobe, who had 23 family members and friends present in section 128, just behind home plate.

“You can't be perfect in situations like that, but you want it to be a perfect scenario for that, and it was as close as you could get to welcoming him to the big leagues,” said Hinch, whose Tigers (84-74) are 10 games over .500 for the first time since 2016. “He'll go home tonight feeling like he's accomplished something he's only dreamed of before.”

“Everyone should be proud not only of what Jackson did, but also of our city welcoming him.”

“That was pretty incredible.”

More: Paul: Al Avila's rebuild is finally taking shape, two years after the Tigers fired him

In the eighth inning, as the Tigers tacked on the runs Hinch intended to put Jobe in a lower-leverage situation, the crowd of 32,463 — the team's largest on a September weekday since 2015 — began chanting.

And as the Tigers finished the eighth inning, the cameras showed Jobe strolling toward the bullpen exit as a highlight reel of Jobe's rapid rise through the minor leagues played on the giant video board behind him.

Parker Meadows in midfield said: “I got goosebumps.”

Interestingly, this was not the case with Jobe. He said he was more nervous before the call than he was on the mound. He said he was more nervous in his spring training appearance this year when he hit 100 than he was on Wednesday.

Of course, the thunderous support of the crowd watching the playoffs didn't hurt.

“Yeah, they convinced me pretty quickly. They did,” Jobe said with a big smile. “That was great. That was great. I want to do this again. Every time.”

Jobe brought the heat from his first pitch, 96, to Christopher Morel. Then 96 again. Then a 91 miler. Then a 99 mph fastball, his hottest run of the night. After a great transition he got Morel to move up to third.

Jobe then needed just three more throws to get out of the inning, a 99 mph fastball that Ben Rortvedt hit with a single to center. Jose Caballero landed on an 86 mph cutter. And Richie Palacios blasted a 98-mile-per-hour fastball to center to end the game, starting the celebration, one of the loudest this season at Comerica Park, as the Tigers lead the Minnesota Twins by two games in the wilderness had. Card race with four games remaining in the regular season.

The celebration was no wilder than in his family and friends area, where father Brandt, a former PGA Tour golfer, and mother Jennifer sat with Jobe's sister, her fiancé, his girlfriend and several friends from their native Oklahoma. Two of his friends already had custom-made white Jobe home jerseys, perhaps the only two in the stadium that didn't belong to Jackson himself.

“It's something special. I mean, without her, without a doubt, I wouldn’t be here,” said Jobe, who pitched at Triple-A, Double-A Erie and High-A West Michigan this season. “I've been waiting for this day for a while and now it's finally here.

“We’ll just continue to build on it and hopefully get into bigger and better situations as we move forward.”

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To the delight of the fans, Jackson Jobe completed the Tigers' win in their MLB debut

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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