Detroit — Spencer Torkelson got to play hero, bashing a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off the Milwaukee Brewers and push the Tigers to a 5-4 win Thursday and a series victory.
“Just looking for something out and over that I can handle,” Torkelson said. “Got a really good one to hit, first pitch, just wasn’t on time. Then he was kind of spraying his slider, and hit his count — don’t really want to walk me. But, I mean, I’m always pretty much always on the fastball right there.”
It’s just Torkelson’s second home run of the season — his first came Wednesday — and helped salvage an afternoon where ace Tarik Skubal had a strong-but-not dominant outing and the Tigers offense wasn’t going gangbusters. The Tigers got a first inning home run from Riley Greene for two runs, added another in the sixth inning and then got a pair of solo home runs late, including Torkelson’s, to win the game in walk off fashion.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 5, Brewers 4
The days with back-to-back home runs also come after an extended slump to start the season for Torkelson.
“I’m proud of him, because it’s mentally for him, you know, he’s getting a lot of questions,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s getting a lot of doubt. But never internal. Never by us, never by his teammates, and certainly not by him.”
Skubal opened the game with some electricity, striking out the first two batters he faced and three of the first four. He didn’t give up a hit through three innings.
Skubal eventually succumbed slightly to the Brewers’ offense, giving up a pair of two-out doubles in the fourth inning that put the visitors on the board for a run.
The Tigers’ ace had to start battling in the later innings. He escaped a jam with runners on the corners and one out in the top of the sixth inning, inducing a double play ball to end the threat.
Then in the top of the seventh inning, Skubal gave up a game-tying double to Blake Perkins after the first two runners got on. That spurred manager A.J. Hinch to go the bullpen and insert Tyler Holton, who picked up the first out on a groundball before back-to-back singles put the Brewers ahead, 4-3, with runners on first and second base.
As he went into the dugout after getting relieved, Skubal threw his glove and a small cooler in evident frustration. He finished going six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits with no walks. After the game, Skubal was circumspect about his outing, starting strong and pitching into the seventh inning to give his team a chance, but was evidently frustrated with how the start ended for him.
“We’re shifted the other way, and it ends up being a couple that scores,” Skubal said, “yeah, it’s just baseball at the end of the day.”
Holton eventually escaped with the bases loaded and one out by inducing an infield ground ball that Torkelson and Dillon Dingler passed back-and-forth on a well-executed 3-2-3 double play. The Tigers knew they’d need to be crisp defending the infield against a Brewers team that loves to play with speed and small ball.
“I knew I had to get rid of it quick, Ding’s a big target, just hit him, and you know, he’s got an absolute hose. So as soon as you get to him, the next guy’s out for sure,” Torkelson said.
But what was looking like a squandered Skubal start turned around quickly in the bottom of the eighth inning when Hinch had Jahmai Jones pinch hit.
The outfielder worked to a full count before smacking a solo home run into left field, tying the game, 4-4, with an inning remaining. It has been a difficult stretch of hitting for Jones, who primarily comes in to pinch hit in situations like Thursday’s, and both player and manager were happy to see him pay it off with a big hit.
“To lean on the guys around me, honestly,” Jones said of how he navigated some of his hitting difficulties. “There’s a lot of great minds in this locker room, the hitting staff especially. They understand I’m not in there every day. So, we build a routine, we build a game plan every single day of how it could look with the game going on and obviously stuff changes when the game happens, but the consistency of being the same person every day, I think, is what’s helping me the most, honestly.”
Detroit’s offense had pounced at the start, with Kevin McGonigle leading off the game with a double looped down the left field line. He’d end up scoring three batters later, when Greene blasted a first-pitch curveball into the visitors bullpen through left-center field.
Detroit added a third run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice to the infield off the bat of Dingler.
The next two runs Detroit scored, both home runs in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, proved to be the difference in a come-from-behind win.
“Any time you give me a lead, I’m gonna do my best to try and win that game,” Skubal said. “And for them to have my back and pick me up in that situation, when I gave the lead back away was huge. Huge swings from both those guys.”
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Spencer Torkelson’s walk-off blast lifts Detroit Tigers over Milwaukee Brewers
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
