DETROIT — Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene every hit a two-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Crimson Sox 4-1 on Sunday.
The Tigers (70-68) earned their second sequence win within the final 13 towards Boston and received the season sequence for the primary time since 2017. They path the Crimson Sox (70-67) by a half-game for fourth within the AL wild-card race.
Brant Hurter (3-1) pitched 5 innings of one-run ball for the win. He entered with two on and one out within the second and received Wilyer Abreu to bounce right into a double play.
“I’ve been enjoying baseball for 20 years, and I’ve by no means gotten a first-pitch double play earlier than,” Hurter stated. “That was cool.”
Resulting from trades and accidents, the Tigers have been down to 2 wholesome starters for a lot of August. Hurter, who made his main league debut on Aug. 4, has a 3.25 ERA in six video games, together with one begin.
“I’m a rookie, so I’m going to embrace any position they provide me,” he stated.
Jason Foley, the fourth Tigers pitcher, received his twentieth save with an ideal ninth.
Crimson Sox opener Cooper Criswell pitched 4 excellent innings, placing out 5. However Wealthy Hill (0-1) and Zack Kelly faltered.
“The plan was for Coop to provide us as many outs as he might after which benefit from the matchups,” Crimson Sox supervisor Alex Cora stated. “It simply didn’t work.”
Jarren Duran’s two-out RBI single lifted Boston to a 1-0 lead within the fifth, however the 44-year-old Hill issued a leadoff stroll to Kerry Carpenter within the backside half. Jace Jung struck out earlier than Torkelson hit a drive to left for his eighth homer.
“They’ve achieved that with Criswell the place he has pitched a pair innings and the place he’s gone 5 or 6,” Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch stated. “We simply needed to react and benefit from our alternatives.”
Greene made it 4-1 within the sixth, lining a two-run homer — his twentieth — off Kelly that went simply contained in the right-field foul pole.
“That is superior,” stated Greene, who reached 20 homers for the primary time. “I’m making an attempt to do issues that assist the group win, and I feel that’s an indication of what I’ve been in a position to do.”
Greene was the fifth choose within the 2019 beginner draft, and Torkelson was the primary general alternative a yr later. They’re purported to be the offensive cornerstones of Detroit’s rebuild, however this was solely the second time they’ve homered in the identical recreation.
“I noticed that swing and the ball simply popped off his bat,” Greene stated. “That was an enormous homer for us.”
Boston’s seek for late-game offence led to Cora enjoying Conner Wong in left discipline for his first look within the outfield since faculty.
“There’s not a lot occurring proper now, and that’s been true for some time now,” Cora stated. “It’s not even that we’re hitting the ball arduous proper at guys — we’re not even doing that.”
UP NEXT
The Crimson Sox return dwelling for a three-game sequence with the New York Mets. Neither group had introduced their pitching plans for the Labor Day opener.
Detroit flies throughout the nation for a vacation afternoon recreation towards the San Diego Padres. The sport comes two days after the Tigers honoured their 1984 championship group, which beat the Padres within the World Sequence in 5 video games. The groups have Tuesday off earlier than ending the sequence on Wednesday and Thursday.
