Riley Greene kept rolling Sunday, and the Tigers rode that momentum all the way to a three-game sweep.
Detroit finished off the Colorado Rockies with an 8-1 win on Sept. 13, getting a big afternoon from Greene, a career day from Jackson Jobe and another power burst from Spencer Torkelson. Greene homered to right-center in the first inning, added an RBI single later, and the Tigers never let Colorado back into it.
Jobe, meanwhile, delivered the longest outing of his Major League career. The right-hander worked 6⅓ innings, struck out eight and turned in a clean run after a rocky first swing of the bat from the Rockies. Colorado second baseman Adael Amador got to him with a home run in the game’s second at-bat, but Jobe settled down and kept the Rockies quiet the rest of the way.
The win gave Detroit its first sweep since taking three straight from the Athletics from July 31-Aug. 2. The Tigers improved to 70-79, while the Rockies fell to 55-94.
Greene wasted no time making his presence felt. In a 3-2 count against Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes, he sent a hanging curveball the other way for a two-run homer. It was his 20th home run of 2026, making it three straight seasons he’s reached the 20-homer mark.
Detroit kept stacking innings from there. Kevin McGonigle came within inches of his 18th homer of the season in the second, launching a ball 397 feet into the deep alley in right-center.
It bounced off the yellow padding atop the wall and came back into play, turning what looked like a three-run shot into a two-run triple. McGonigle ended up stranded at third, but the Tigers still put up a three-run frame.
In the fourth, the offense kept the pressure on by drawing three straight walks to load the bases with nobody out. Hao-Yu Lee brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, and Greene followed with an RBI single to right.
Greene’s surge has been especially sharp since his return from the injured list. Since Sept. 1, he is 17-for-48 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 11 games.
Torkelson added to the damage in the fifth with a 389-foot solo homer off Colorado reliever Nick Frasso. It was his 23rd home run of 2026.
Detroit’s bullpen finished the job from there. Brant Hurter and Yilber Díaz combined for 2⅔ scoreless innings.
Jobe’s numbers stood out just as much as the offense. He allowed one run on three hits, with one walk and one hit-by-pitch. He threw 87 pitches, 56 of them for strikes, and piled up 16 whiffs on 42 swings from Rockies hitters.
The pitch mix was spread around, but the slider did the most damage. Jobe threw 22 four-seam fastballs, 22 sliders, 19 sinkers, 15 curveballs, seven changeups and two cutters.
His slider produced seven swings and misses on 11 tries, and four of his eight strikeouts came on sliders. Three came on curveballs, and the last one came on a sinker.
The Tigers now head into the final road trip of their 2026 season, a seven-game swing through two cities. It starts Monday night with three games against the Toronto Blue Jays, followed by four against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, with Troy Melton (8-4, 2.42 ERA) scheduled to face Toronto’s José Soriano (12-7, 3.48 ERA).
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The timing matters because Detroits pitching picture is still shifting, with Jack Flaherty also working back from injury and potentially available in relief before the season is over. There is still no firm commitment on Verlander, and the Tigers are clearly treating this as a process rather than a promise. Even so, the fact that his return is being discussed at all gives the late-season staff mix a different feel, especially with Wenceel Prez ruled out for the rest of the year after the eye injury that became an orbital fracture. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Finish Off Rockies With The Kind Of Win Fans Love
The Tigers finished off a three-game sweep of the Rockies with the kind of complete performance that tends to travel well into a long season. Jackson Jobe set the tone on the mound, the offense kept stacking traffic and damage, and Detroit turned a comfortable afternoon into an 8-1 win with the sort of balanced effort that has become hard to ignore.
Riley Greene was part of the early push, Kevin McGonigle chipped in as the lineup kept moving, and Spencer Torkelson added the kind of extra punch that makes a game feel out of reach. Gabriel Hughes never found much relief for Colorado, and for Detroit, the bigger question now is how much of this momentum can follow the Tigers as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]