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The top of the Detroit Tigers' lineup was the difference Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
Riley Greene hit a three-run home run, Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run double and Zach McKinstry drove in an insurance run in the Tigers' 6-2 win over the Orioles to take both games of Saturday's split doubleheader at Comerica Park.
Greene gave the Tigers (17-10) a 3-1 lead in the third inning with his fourth home run of the season. Following a Jace Jung walk and Trey Sweeney single, Greene jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Charlie Morton for a 398-foot shot to right field.
GAME 1: Detroit Tigers hold on to take series opener vs Baltimore Orioles, 4-3
The Tigers' offense remained mostly quiet, though, until the seventh inning, when Torkelson pushed the lead to three runs with a two-out, two-RBI double to left, then scored on a McKinstry double.
The Tigers' six runs on six hits provided enough run support for Keider Montero, who was called up from Triple-A to make the start, and four relievers.
The Tigers won the first game of the doubleheader, 4-3, behind a solid start from Casey Mize and a Torkelson home run.
Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo as the Tigers' 27th player, afforded to teams for doubleheaders. Montero had previously spent a week with the Tigers, making starts against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres before being sent back down on April 22 to make room for reliever Chase Lee.
Montero retired the first seven Orioles batters he faced before running into trouble in the third inning. Jackson Holliday reached on a one-out single, followed by a two-out single from Cedric Mullins.
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Baltimore drove in the game's first run on an opposite-field double from Gunnar Henderson to plate Holliday. Mullins also tried to score on the hit to left field, but Zach McKinstry delivered a throw from foul territory to get the Orioles' leadoff hitter out at home, ending the inning.
Montero threw 77 pitches, including 47 for strikes, across 4⅓ innings. He gave up four hits, two walks, and one earned run along with two strikeouts. He only produced three swings and misses, two on his fastball and one on his changeup.
The Tigers used left-hander Brant Hurter as the first reliever to counter the top of Baltimore's lineup, which started with three lefties and a switch-hitter. Hurter produced a scoreless fifth, but gave up a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, cutting the Tigers' lead to one run.
Left-hander Sean Guenther, called up by the Tigers before the series, came on with two outs in the seventh and stranded two runners by striking out Adley Rutschman looking on a backdoor slider. Lee and Tommy Kahnle produced scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
McKinstry started in left field after playing the first game in right, with Greene sliding over to center field.
There was a short hiatus after McKinstry's first at-bat, when he seemingly fouled off a two-strike pitch. However, the pitch hit McKinstry in the hand, prompting a check from a team trainer, and was ruled a swing and miss, resulting in a strikeout after video review.
McKinstry was fine and stayed in the game, immediately leading to a defensive highlight. In the top half of the third, McKinstry kept the Orioles at one run by throwing out Mullins trying to score from first base on a double.
The hit landed just past third base and rolled to the wall in foul territory halfway up the line and stopped on a dime. McKinstry altered his route to the ball, and rushed a throw to home accurately in time to Tomás Nido.
In the sixth, McKinstry went from his alignment in left-center field and caught a Ramón Laureano hit while at a full sprint along the foul line near the left field fence, turning a would-be extra base hit into a sacrifice fly to preserve the lead.
McKinstry drove in the Tigers' sixth run with a double off Holland native Grant Wolfram (making his MLB debut), finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Jared Ramsey covers sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers get big hits from big boppers in 6-2 win over Orioles
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Riley Greene hit a three-run home run, Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run double and Zach McKinstry drove in an insurance run in the Tigers' 6-2 win over the Orioles to take both games of Saturday's split doubleheader at Comerica Park.
Greene gave the Tigers (17-10) a 3-1 lead in the third inning with his fourth home run of the season. Following a Jace Jung walk and Trey Sweeney single, Greene jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Charlie Morton for a 398-foot shot to right field.
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GAME 1: Detroit Tigers hold on to take series opener vs Baltimore Orioles, 4-3
The Tigers' offense remained mostly quiet, though, until the seventh inning, when Torkelson pushed the lead to three runs with a two-out, two-RBI double to left, then scored on a McKinstry double.
The Tigers' six runs on six hits provided enough run support for Keider Montero, who was called up from Triple-A to make the start, and four relievers.
The Tigers won the first game of the doubleheader, 4-3, behind a solid start from Casey Mize and a Torkelson home run.
Montero does enough in spot start
Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo as the Tigers' 27th player, afforded to teams for doubleheaders. Montero had previously spent a week with the Tigers, making starts against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres before being sent back down on April 22 to make room for reliever Chase Lee.
Montero retired the first seven Orioles batters he faced before running into trouble in the third inning. Jackson Holliday reached on a one-out single, followed by a two-out single from Cedric Mullins.
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Baltimore drove in the game's first run on an opposite-field double from Gunnar Henderson to plate Holliday. Mullins also tried to score on the hit to left field, but Zach McKinstry delivered a throw from foul territory to get the Orioles' leadoff hitter out at home, ending the inning.
Montero threw 77 pitches, including 47 for strikes, across 4⅓ innings. He gave up four hits, two walks, and one earned run along with two strikeouts. He only produced three swings and misses, two on his fastball and one on his changeup.
The Tigers used left-hander Brant Hurter as the first reliever to counter the top of Baltimore's lineup, which started with three lefties and a switch-hitter. Hurter produced a scoreless fifth, but gave up a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, cutting the Tigers' lead to one run.
Left-hander Sean Guenther, called up by the Tigers before the series, came on with two outs in the seventh and stranded two runners by striking out Adley Rutschman looking on a backdoor slider. Lee and Tommy Kahnle produced scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
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McKinstry's eventful evening
McKinstry started in left field after playing the first game in right, with Greene sliding over to center field.
There was a short hiatus after McKinstry's first at-bat, when he seemingly fouled off a two-strike pitch. However, the pitch hit McKinstry in the hand, prompting a check from a team trainer, and was ruled a swing and miss, resulting in a strikeout after video review.
McKinstry was fine and stayed in the game, immediately leading to a defensive highlight. In the top half of the third, McKinstry kept the Orioles at one run by throwing out Mullins trying to score from first base on a double.
The hit landed just past third base and rolled to the wall in foul territory halfway up the line and stopped on a dime. McKinstry altered his route to the ball, and rushed a throw to home accurately in time to Tomás Nido.
In the sixth, McKinstry went from his alignment in left-center field and caught a Ramón Laureano hit while at a full sprint along the foul line near the left field fence, turning a would-be extra base hit into a sacrifice fly to preserve the lead.
McKinstry drove in the Tigers' sixth run with a double off Holland native Grant Wolfram (making his MLB debut), finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Jared Ramsey covers sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers get big hits from big boppers in 6-2 win over Orioles
Continue reading...
