St. Petersburg, Fla. – The Tigers came in with the fourth fewest home runs in the American League.
They came in having scored just five runs in a three-game sweep against the White Sox in Chicago. They came in on the heels of their worst-hitting month since 2003.
Then the calendar turned.
The Tigers lit up Rays’ right-hander Griffin Jax for four runs in the third inning, featuring back-to-back-to-back home runs by Dillon Dingler (428 feet), Kerry Carpenter (391 feet) and Riley Greene (428 feet).
It was the first time the Tigers have hit three consecutive homers since August of 2020 when Miguel Cabrera, C.J. Cron and Jeimer Candelario went deep against Pittsburgh pitcher Derek Holland.
The barrage started after rookie Kevin McGonigle worked an eight-pitch walk. He had fallen behind Jax 1-2 and didn’t stop grinding. He took two 90-mph changeups, fouled off a 95-mph sinker and then a sweeper before taking another changeup out of the strike zone.
Greene had doubled home two runs in the first inning. So in three innings, the Tigers exceeded their offensive output from the three games in Chicago.
Tigers at Rays
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, Tropicana Park, St. Petersburg, Florida
TV/radio: Detroit Sports Net, 97.1/107.9 FM
Scouting report
RHP Jack Flaherty (0-7, 5.81), Tigers: He’s the first Tigers’ starter to lose his first seven decisions since Jordan Zimmermann in 2019. But his last start was a strong step in a positive direction. He struck out nine and had 20 swings-and-misses in 5.2 innings, with just one walk. He was attacking the strike zone and beating hitters in the zone, which was probably the best sign.
LHP Steven Matz (4-2, 4.67), Rays: He’s coming off a rough one against the Orioles (six earned runs in three innings) and he hasn’t thrown more than 67 pitches in his last two starts. He’s still pitching off a 93-mph sinker, throwing changeups and a nasty curveball off it to right-handed hitters. Lefties get a lot of sinkers and sliders. He’s battled his command a fair bit. His 9.2% walk rate is a career high.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ offense explodes with three straight homers against Rays
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
