Tigers Rough Up Diamondbacks

by Mike Whitaker & George Eichorn
DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers won their third straight game, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-2. Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, and Zach McKinstry all homered in the 5th inning off Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt as the Tigers put up six runs.
The win gave the Tigers their first series win since the All-Star break, with a sweep possible Wednesday afternoon.

Detroit improved its record to 63-46, good for first place in the AL Central and tied with the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League. A Tuesday night crowd of 27,697 was on hand at Comerica Park.
The 5th was a rough inning for Pfaadt, who first surrendered a solo shot to Torres, halving what was a 2-0 Diamondbacks lead.
This was followed by a two-run home run from Greene and another two-run home run from McKinstry, breaking the game wide open for the host Tigers.
That was the last straw for Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who finally pulled Pfaadt from the contest after a total of seven earned runs.
“After the second homer, kind of let the game get away from us, and from there the rest is history,” Pfaadt said. “They started cheating to the cutter a little bit more. … Kind of left a few pitches middle in and paid the price for it.”

Pfaadt hadn’t allowed that many earned runs since the final day of May, surrendering eight to the Washington Nationals. It was also the worst loss the Diamondbacks had suffered since a 13-1 setback against the Cincinnati Reds in June.
Greene may have unlocked the lucky charm for the Tigers. He shaved the remainder of his face in hopes of rallying the Tigers following their miserable stretch, losing 12 of 13 games. After the Tigers ended their six-game losing streak Sunday, Riley kept the clean new look, and they’ve now won three straight games. Tuesday was Greene’s first career game with three extra-base hits, giving him 22 doubles, 26 homers, and 84 RBIs this season. The All-Star outfielder is the leader of the team.
Meanwhile, Tigers starter Casey Mize ultimately threw just 59 pitches and didn’t make it out of the 2nd inning. Fans can thank reliever Brant Hurter for the win after tossing 3.5 scoreless innings for Detroit, who also got solid performances from relievers Chase Lee, Tyler Holton, and Luke Jackson. The bullpen was priceless, giving up zero runs and two hits while striking out eight Diamondbacks.
Mize had been experiencing minor knee stiffness and even had a scheduled start pushed back an additional day, but that didn’t play a role in his early exit on Tuesday night.
Following what will be the series finale on Wednesday, the Tigers will continue interleague play with a three-game set on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park starting on Friday evening.