After a Friday so brutal the Tigers might still be asking ‘What can you do?’ Detroit showed up Saturday ready to erase the memory, shutting out the Guardians 6-0 thanks to an absolute clinic from Riley Greene, who accounted for four of those runs himself. Manager AJ Hinch put it perfectly after the Tigers were swept in a pair of walk-off losses, saying they might be “the only team that’s ever gotten walked off twice in a doubleheader after having the lead as late as we did.” But there was no lingering PTSD at Progressive Field, just a determined bounce-back that set the record straight.
Riley Greene’s All-Star Bat Wakes Up the Offense
You just knew Greene was itching to get back out there after sitting out Game 2 of Friday’s heartbreaker. And boy, did he ever. The guy was on an All-Star mission, altering the vibe with his bat in a huge way. He blasted two backside homers, singles in a run, and doubled in another. We’re talking four RBI in total, tying his season high. First, against the “talented lefty” Parker Messick, who still managed a career-high 12 strikeouts in six innings, Greene launched a two-strike cutter 407 feet over the high wall in right-center during the first inning. Then, as if to say “I’m not done yet,” he led off the sixth by slamming a four-seam fastball 421 feet into the same set of bleachers. These were homers Nos. 17 and 18 for Greene, and get this: it’s only his fifth game back off the injured list! In between those monster swings, he singled in a run off Messick in the third, and then in a three-run seventh, ripped an RBI double off reliever Matt Festa, eventually scoring on a single by rookie Ben Malgeri, who piled up three hits himself.
Framber Valdez Deploys a New Weapon to Silence Guardians Bats
Given that the Tigers blew a 6-1 lead in Game 1 and a 3-0 lead in Game 2 on Friday, any lead would’ve felt like walking on eggshells. But veteran lefty Framber Valdez was absolutely brilliant, allaying all those fears. He went seven scoreless innings, allowing just three singles and inducing nine ground-ball outs, two of which were double plays. Valdez showed the Guardians a new trick they hadn’t seen in his first two starts against them: a little-used four-seam fastball. He threw 16 of them Saturday, with 12 going to right-handed hitters, and two of his three punch-outs came on that pitch. Guardians hitters managed a weak average exit velocity of 74.6 mph on three put-in-play four-seamers. That new wrinkle seemed to completely throw off Guardians hitters, keeping them from locking in on his sinker. They only put multiple runners on base once, in the second inning, but Valdez shut that down cold. David Fry and Angel Genao singled, Petey Halpin bunted them over, but Valdez got Austin Hedges on a short fly to right and Brayan Rocchio on a grounder to short. That was the last hit and the last runner in scoring position against him.
This story will be updated, sure, but what’s clear already is the Tigers just flipped the script on what could have been a truly crushing weekend. With Greene mashing like an All-Star and Valdez dealing, you gotta feel good about that kind of bounce back. Can they keep this momentum rolling and put that Friday nightmare officially in the rearview mirror?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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