Quintin Berry is certainly making the most of his cup of coffee with the Detroit Tigers while Austin Jackson nurses a strained abdomen. In fact, Berry has played so well that it’s likely the Tigers make an unexpected move to keep Berry around after Jackson returns.
On Sunday against the Twins, Berry became the first Tiger since at least 1918 to hit safely in his first five MLB games. That’s quite a feat for the 27-year-old speedster who is with his fifth organization since being drafted by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2006 amateur draft. (He was originally drafted in 2003 by the Atlanta Braves, but did not sign. He ultimately wound up playing for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State before being drafted again in ’06.)
Berry would go on to collect two more hits during Sunday’s game to raise his average in five MLB games to .381 and he stole two bases to bring that total to three. One of those three hits led off the ninth inning, later scoring the tying run when Miguel Cabrera put the Tigers in front with a two-run game winning homer.
But Berry’s best play of the day actually came in the bottom of the eighth inning on defense. With the Twins up 3-2 with two outs and a runner on third, Berry made a spectacular diving catch on a Jamey Carroll screamer that saved at least one run and perhaps an inside the park home run. Without that catch, which you can see in the video below, the Tigers likely don’t come back to sweep in the ninth.
