DETROIT – When Jayce Tingler walked to the mound after Kenta Maeda walked a batter with two outs in the fifth inning, Maeda shook his head and kept repeating: “I got him. I got him.”
Tingler, who was the acting manager after Rocco Baldelli was ejected, didn’t bring Maeda’s interpreter, Dai Sekizaki, which usually signals a pitching change. Lefthanded reliever Jovani Moran thought he was coming in and walked through the gate to enter the field.
Maeda didn’t budge.
He was back after nearly two months on the injured list, and he had no plans to exit before giving himself a chance to earn his first win post-Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. Tingler was convinced after a brief conversation and left Maeda on the mound. Maeda struck out the next batter and celebrated with a fist pump in the Twins’ 4-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park.
It was Maeda’s first victory since Aug. 14, 2021.
“It really has a significant meaning,” Maeda said through Sekizaki. “If anything, like mentally, I think I’m back as the Kenta Maeda that everyone knows. I think I can excel from here.”
It’s been a long road back to this point. Maeda underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2021, missing the entire 2022 season. He took a 111-mph comebacker to the ankle in April before he was sidelined by a triceps strain.
So, when Maeda was one batter away from qualifying for the victory, he was adamant about finishing what he started. When Tingler turned to return to the dugout, Moran was a few steps on the warning track before realizing he needed to return to the bullpen.
“I was pretty open,” Tingler said. “I was thinking third time through McKinstry. We’ve got Moran there. Got out there, he said, ‘I got him. I got him. I got him.’ I kind of looked back, like, ‘You got him?’ He’s like, ‘I got him.’ “
The matchup was Maeda vs. Tigers leadoff hitter Zach McKinstry, a lefthanded hitter who had already reached base twice. McKinstry, who has five homers this season, represented the tying run.
Maeda reached a 0-2 count and then looked upset with himself when he left a splitter in the strike zone that was fouled away. Maeda went back to his splitter on the next pitch, dropping it below the zone for the inning-ending punchout. Catcher Christian Vázquez let out a fist pump from behind the plate.
“More than anything, you can see the enthusiasm from him,” Baldelli said of Maeda. “That’s the kind of stuff you’re looking for from a guy that’s coming back.”
Maeda made sure to speak with Tingler afterward to make sure he came off as respectful when he pleaded his case to stay in the game in English.
“This win put a lot of weight off my shoulders,” said Maeda, who struck out eight batters. His fastball velocity was up by about 1 mph from earlier in the season.
The 35-year-old Maeda admitted he felt some uncertainty before Friday’s start. It’s one thing to pitch well in a rehab start against minor league hitters. The first two batters reached base against Maeda on Friday, before he retired 12 of his next 13, including a double play to erase the threat in the first inning.
“I had, not doubts, but uncertainty of whether I was going to be able to pitch well, pitch healthy, things like that,” Maeda said. “The first inning, I definitely had some nerves.”
Meanwhile, the Twins took a 3-0 lead on second-inning homers by Royce Lewis and Max Kepler — the latter a two-run shot, Kepler’s third homer in four games. They made it 4-0 when Kyle Farmer scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning.
Reliever Brock Stewart, who was teammates with Maeda when they were with the Dodgers, helped preserve Maeda’s victory in the sixth inning. He allowed one inherited run to score, but he forced Miguel Cabrera to hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
Teammates congratulated Maeda in the clubhouse afterward — “Not too big,” Maeda said of the celebration — on his first win in nearly two years.
“He’s looking at this like, ‘I’m back now and I’m going to do some stuff in these upcoming starts,'” Baldelli said. “Great first night back for him.”