BOSTON – Dillon Dingler finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The 27-year-old is a Gold Glove-winning catcher on his way to becoming a Silver Slugger with an All-Star-caliber performance through his first 19 games of the 2026 season.
Dingler carried the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, April 19, in the third of four games in the series at Fenway Park, collecting four hits on offense and guiding the pitching staff on defense. He did it all through inclement weather for the entire game, as the two teams were determined to avoid a rain delay.
His key moment?
A three-run home run off left-hander Garrett Crochet with two outs in the fifth inning.
The Tigers (12-10) and Red Sox (8-13) clash again Monday (11:10 a.m., Detroit SportsNet) with an earlier-than-usual start time as part of Boston’s Patriots’ Day festivities. The Tigers have won eight of nine, including two in a row against the Red Sox.
In Sunday’s game, the Tigers and Red Sox featured a showdown of left-handed pitchers.
For the Tigers, left-hander Framber Valdez allowed one run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across six innings, throwing 98 pitches. The 32-year-old appeared in complete control of his three-pitch mix: sinker, curveball and changeup.
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Meanwhile, Crochet surrendered five runs on seven hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across five innings, throwing 93 pitches.
In 2025, Crochet finished second in American League Cy Young voting. In 2026, he owns a 7.88 ERA over five starts, responsible for 15 runs over 6⅔ innings in his past two starts.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead with back-to-back doubles from Matt Vierling and Dingler with two outs in the first inning, then exploded for four runs – all with two outs – in the fifth inning, taking a 5-1 lead.
In the fifth, Crochet racked up a pair of strikeouts before the next five batters reached safely: Jahmai Jones (home run), Gleyber Torres (walk), Vierling (single), Dingler (three-run home run) and Riley Greene (single).
Jones – a right-handed hitter who crushes left-handers – collected his first homer this season by crushing Crochet’s middle-middle sinker over the Green Monster in left-center field, driving the ball 423 feet with a 109 mph exit velocity.
He has four hits in his past eight at-bats.
That’s a big improvement after an 0-for-12 start to his season.
Not long afterward, Dingler demolished Crochet’s middle-middle fastball for a three-run homer to center field. He has five homers in 19 games, putting him on pace for more than 35 homers.
Dingler has established himself as one of MLB’s best catchers.
He drove in four runs while hitting a double in the first inning, a single in the fourth inning and a home run in the fifth inning, but he also helped Valdez navigate the Red Sox.
By the third inning, Valdez found the feel for his swing-and-miss curveball, which he pairs with his sinker and changeup. He used the changeup effectively to right-handed hitters, while featuring the sinker and curveball to both righties and lefties.
Most importantly, Valdez filled up the strike zone with 71.4% strikes and 82.6% first-pitch strikes. Both his curveball and changeup missed bats at above-average rates.
The Red Sox scored their lone run with two strikes and two outs in the first inning, thanks to a solo home run from Willson Contreras.
That homer tied the game, 1-1.
Valdez retired nine batters in a row from the third out in the first inning to the second out in the fourth inning. He also sent down seven of the final eight batters, ending his start by working around a walk from Trevor Story with two outs in the sixth inning.
He owns a 3.30 ERA across 30 innings in five starts.
In the seventh inning, Dingler had a chance for the cycle against right-handed reliever Jack Anderson. He needed a triple and crushed a fastball, but it resulted in a flyout to deep center field. He got another chance against Anderson and singled in the ninth inning.
Dingler, who went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, is hitting .290 with an .968 OPS in 19 games. He entered Sunday’s game with plus-2 defensive runs saved in 130⅔ innings.
After Valdez, the Tigers got to the finish line with three relievers in three innings: right-hander Kyle Finnegan in the seventh, right-hander Will Vest in the eighth and right-hander Connor Seabold in the ninth.
Seabold gave up a run in the ninth, making it 6-2.
Hao-Yu Lee finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the second game of his MLB career. As the third baseman, he made a backhanded stop near foul territory followed by an accurate one-hop throw scooped by first baseman Spencer Torkelson to end the eighth inning.
He continues to search for his first hit.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dillon Dingler, Tigers throttle Garrett Crochet in 6-2 win vs Red Sox
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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