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What’s behind Detroit Tigers’ surge on offense? Michael Brdar
Detroit Tigers radio analyst Bobby Scales breaks down why the team’s hitting is clicking this season, plus why Riley Greene’s slump wasn’t worrying.
- The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-2, in Game 1 of a straight doubleheader in Denver.
- Right-hander Casey Mize dominated on the mound, striking out eight Rockies in six innings.
- Spencer Torkelson drove in three runs on a pair of hits for the Detroit Tigers, who took their second straight series.
The Detroit Tigers just keep winning.
Nine runs in the first three innings — including three runs plated by Spencer Torkelson, now on pace for 135 RBIs this season — led the way to a 10-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader at Coors Field in Denver.
The Rockies own the worst record in baseball, but the Tigers didn’t waste time taking advantage of an opportunity to pounce on a struggling starting pitcher and a sloppy defense that committed three errors.
With the win, the Tigers (24-13) maintained their status as the best team in the American League and moved above .500 away from home, at 11-10.
Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland surrendered two runs in the first inning, five runs in the second and three runs in the third. He allowed 11 hits across three innings, during which the Rockies committed an error in each inning.
In the first, the Tigers scored their two runs on three consecutive two-out hits, highlighted Andy Ibáñez’s RBI double and Torkelson’s RBI single. In the second, Torkelson produced a two-RBI double to increase the Tigers’ lead to 7-0. In the third, Trey Sweeney and Justyn-Henry Malloy delivered RBI singles for a 9-0 lead, but the inning was sparked by Javier Báez’s leadoff double.
Freeland didn’t return for the fourth inning.
Báez finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
He is hitting .320 with an .843 OPS through 30 games.
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Eyes on Mize
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Right-hander Casey Mize anchored the Tigers with another stellar performance, allowing one run on three hits and zero walks with eight strikeouts over six innings.
He needed just 86 pitches.
The 28-year-old, who continues to miss bats with multiple pitches at an above-average clip, improved to 6-1 with a 2.53 ERA through seven starts in his fifth MLB season.
After a leadoff single in the first, Mize retired 13 batters in a row before another hitter reached safely on a single with one out in the fifth inning. That single ultimately led to the Rockies’ only run off Mize, on a sacrifice fly from Alan Trejo.
But Mize bounced back with a dominant sixth inning.
He struck out all three batters: Brenton Doyle (called strike, 81.6 mph slurve), Jordan Beck (swinging strike, 84.5 mph slurve) and Ryan McMahon (called strike, 94 mph fastball).
Saving the bullpen
The Tigers used four relievers in Wednesday’s series opener, so a quality start from Mize in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader was imperative to protect the bullpen — not only for Game 2 but for the upcoming six-game homestand.
After Mize’s six innings, the Tigers turned to two relievers for the final three innings: Sean Guenther in the seventh and Chase Lee in the eighth and ninth.
Lee allowed one run in the ninth.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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