Detroit Tigers maul Miami Marlins, 6-5, on Spencer Torkelson HR
The Miami Marlins are the worst team in baseball.
The Detroit Tigers nearly lost to them, but Spencer Torkelson saved the Tigers by demolishing a hanging slider for two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, providing a 6-5 win over the Marlins in Monday’s opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park.
Torkelson, who extended his hitting streak to eight games, hit the ball 446 feet to left-center field for his second home run. The Tigers (21-20) avoided falling below .500 for the first time this season.
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Right-handed reliever Alex Faedo gave up a two-run home run to Otto Lopez in the top of the eighth, but the Tigers responded with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, capped by Torkelson’s second homer in as many days (after none in the Tigers’ first 39 games).
But first, the Tigers cut their deficit to 5-4 with Wenceel Pérez’s double to right field and Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single. The Tigers were down to two outs and two strikes in the eighth when Torkelson unleashed on a meatball — a middle-middle slider from right-handed reliever Anthony Maldonado — for a two-run homer, putting the Tigers ahead, 6-5.
Right-handed reliever Jason Foley then recorded his 10th save when he sent down the Marlins in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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Matt Manning returns
Right-hander Matt Manning dealt with at least one runner on base in every inning in his return from Triple-A Toledo, replacing Kenta Maeda in the rotation. He allowed three runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts in 5⅔ innings, throwing 81 pitches.
Manning worked around mini-threats in the first, second, third and fourth innings, but putting runners on base caught up to him in the fifth inning. The Marlins tied the game, 3-3, with three runs in the frame, which began with a leadoff single from Vidal Bruján.
After two outs, the Marlins racked up three hits in a row for three runs: Bryan De La Cruz (RBI single), Josh Bell (RBI double) and Jesús Sánchez (RBI single).
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Bruján hit a fastball, De La Cruz hit a sweeper, and then both Bell and Sánchez hammered curveballs. The Marlins produced hard contact throughout Manning’s five-plus innings, but primarily in the three-run fifth inning.
Manning returned for the sixth inning.
He recorded two outs in a row before Bruján’s double chased him from his fourth start of the season (and just his first start as a member of the 26-man roster). Manning, who has a 4.37 ERA, made his previous three starts as the 27th player for doubleheaders.
Faedo picked up Manning by striking out Christian Bethancourt on three pitches — 82.5 mph slider, 83.3 mph slider, 94.3 mph fastball — to end the sixth inning.
As for Manning, he generated 12 whiffs on 43 swings — a 27.9% whiff rate — with six fastballs, two sweepers and four curveballs. His fastball averaged 94.1 mph.
His curveball was solid until the Marlins teed off against it in the fifth inning.
A 3-0 lead
Just like the Marlins scored their first three runs in the fifth, the Tigers scored their first three runs in the second inning, which began when Kerry Carpenter delivered a single.
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An ensuing missed catch error benefited the Tigers.
After Zach McKinstry’s walk, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead when McKinstry broke up what could’ve been an inning-ending double play with a side into Bruján. The Tigers tacked on additional runs against right-hander Sixto Sánchez, grabbing a 3-0 lead, with back-to-back RBI singles from Carson Kelly and Riley Greene.
Sanchez allowed three runs (zero earned runs) on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts, throwing 81 pitches.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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