Riley Greene refused to let the at-bat slip away, and the Tigers turned that stubbornness into a big sixth inning.
With the game tied 1-1, two outs on the board and Gleyber Torres on first, Greene appeared to be down on a 2-2 fastball from Mark Manfredi. Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa rang him up, but Greene immediately tapped his head to trigger a challenge. The replay showed the pitch missed outside, and the inning flipped from there.
Greene stayed alive long enough to wear down Manfredi, fouling off three straight 93-mph four-seam fastballs before launching the fourth one, the ninth pitch of the at-bat, 111.4 mph and 420 feet toward the shrubbery beyond the center-field wall. It did not leave the park, but it did turn into a run-scoring triple that opened the door for a four-run frame and carried Detroit to a 6-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday, Sept. 11 at Comerica Park.
Dillon Dingler added the next jolt. After going without a homer since Aug. 6, he jumped on the first pitch from right-hander Nick Frasso and drove it into the left-field seats for his 27th.
Rookie Max Clark had already tied the game earlier with a homer off Rockies starter Mason Adams in the fifth, and he kept the pressure on Frasso after getting hit by a pitch. Clark stole second and scored when Frasso fired two straight wild pitches.
Greene wasn’t done. He finished a homer short of the cycle after adding an RBI double in the eighth.
On the mound, left-hander Framber Valdez put together his second straight quality start, allowing six singles over six innings and giving up only an unearned run.
That run came in the fifth, in the same inning Detroit pulled off two outs at the plate. The sequence started with the Rockies at first and third and nobody out against Valdez, who had breezed through the first four innings.
Colorado botched a safety squeeze, with Ezequiel Tovar bunting the ball firmly back to a charging Valdez. Troy Johnston, the runner at third, broke poorly and was easily cut down at the plate.
Jake McCarthy followed with a single to right, but Zach McKinstry came up firing and unleashed a 92.5-mph short-hop throw to Dillon Dingler, who handled the pickup and tagged out Jordan Beck for the second out. It was McKinstry’s eighth assist from right field, third most in the American League.
Valdez still had to deal with trouble after that. He walked a batter with two outs, and Kevin McGonigle missed a ground ball from Cole Carrigg, allowing the run to score on the error.
Colorado scratched across another run in the ninth off Brant Hurter, stringing together two infield hits and two ground-ball outs. Kenley Jansen then came in for the final out and picked up his 19th save, the 495th of his career.
The win was Detroit’s third in four games.
In Other News...
Tigers May Have Found A Surprise Arm In The Casey Mize Deal
The Casey Mize trade was always going to be measured by the big-league arms and names at the top, but Jackson Wolf has quietly made it worth a closer look for Detroit. Since joining the Tigers organization, the left-hander has turned in a sharp stretch of work, putting together a 1.63 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings across six appearances, a notable bounce from the rougher version the Tigers got in the deal.
Wolf was hardly a headline prospect when Detroit acquired him. He had been struggling in Triple-A El Paso with a 7.05 ERA and wasnt ranked in the Padres pipeline, which is part of what makes this early turnaround interesting for a Tigers team always looking for usable pitching depth. Whether this becomes a real role for Wolf in Detroit is still to be determined, but his recent form has given the front office an unexpected arm to keep tracking. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Suddenly Face A Wenceel Perez Problem They Can't Ignore
Wenceel Prezs season has hit an unexpected stop at exactly the wrong time for Detroit, with an orbital bone injury from a postgame workout ending his year and knocking him out of baseball activities for now. He is still rehabbing, but the Tigers have been left to sort through a roster picture that already has other moving parts, including Keider Montero headed for the paternity list.
Jack Flaherty is lined up for a simulated game and could be activated soon, while Justin Verlander is set to throw off a mound without facing hitters, so the pitching side keeps inching forward. Even so, Prezs absence lingers as a separate concern because the injury removes an outfield option the club had been counting on, and the longer he stays away from baseball work, the harder it is for Detroit to know what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Verlander Just Took A Step Tigers Fans Have Been Waiting On
Justin Verlanders rehab took a noticeable turn at Comerica Park, where the veteran right-hander threw off the mound against simulated batters as he continues working back from a hamstring injury. The session was a welcome checkpoint for the Tigers, who have been waiting to see how his body responds after the setback, and the early read was encouraging with his velocity and intensity both standing out.
Detroit still has not put a specific return date on Verlander, but the club remains hopeful he can make a late-season appearance if the ramp-up keeps trending in the right direction. Jack Flaherty also took part in a simulated game as he works his way back from right flexor tendon inflammation, giving the Tigers two important rehab watch points as they try to sort out the final stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]