Detroit broke open a 3-1 game with a six-run ninth, highlighted by Parker Meadows’ three-run homer, then watched Brenan Hanifee lock down the final two outs after Tampa Bay’s late push. The win moves the Tigers to 49-30.
Casey Mize set the tone early, carving the Rays with a splitter. He struck out three of the first six batters he faced, and each punch-out came on a different pitch: a four-seam fastball up to Junior Caminero, a back-door slider to Brandon Lowe, and the kill-shot splitter that vanished beneath Matt Thaiss’ bat. Mize didn’t overpower Tampa so much as dismantle them, scattering six singles while an alert infield turned three ground-ball double plays behind him.
Offensively, the Tigers were patient. Riley Greene opened the second with a crackling double into the left-field corner and later scored on Dillon Dingler’s opposite-field single. After Caminero’s solo shot tied it in the fourth, both teams traded zeroes until Wenceel Pérez ambushed Garrett Cleavinger’s first-pitch sinker in the seventh. Pérez paused for an extra heartbeat to watch it land deep in the right-center party deck, and George M. Steinbrenner Field suddenly sounded like a July afternoon in Lakeland.
The knockout came in the ninth. Back-to-back doubles from Greene and Spencer Torkelson pushed the lead to 4-1, and Pérez followed with an RBI single. Two batters later Parker Meadows launched Forrest Whitley’s first fastball 407 feet to right-center for a three-run shot that broke the game wide open. Only then did a light drizzle force an eleven-minute halt, giving Detroit time to swap pitchers before the final outs.
Torkelson’s double and another Pérez single padded the score, but the outcome was already settled. The bullpen delivered clean frames; Tyler Holton coaxed soft grounders, Chase Lee snapped off a sweeping slider, and Tommy Kahnle finished with a diving changeup at the shoetops.
Final line
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| TB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
WP Tyler Holton (3-3) LP Garrett Cleavinger (0-3)
Key swings
- 7th inning — Wenceel Pérez lined a two-run shot to right-center, giving Detroit its first lead at 3-1.
- 9th inning — Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson opened with back-to-back doubles, and Pérez followed with an RBI single. Meadows then unloaded a three-run blast to right-center; watch it here.
- Bottom 9th — Tampa loaded the bases against Brant Hurter on a walk, hit-by-pitch and another walk. Hanifee replaced him, surrendered a two-run single to Taylor Walls, then ended it on Spencer Torkelson’s unassisted double play at first.
Turning point
Detroit and Tampa were locked 1-1 until Wenceel Pérez crushed a two-run shot off Garrett Cleavinger in the seventh. The blast gave the Tigers a 3-1 cushion and handed the win to lefty Tyler Holton, who worked a scoreless sixth in relief of starter Casey Mize.
At the plate
At the plate
| Player | H | RBI | XBH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wenceel Pérez | 3-for-5 | 3 | HR |
| Parker Meadows | 1-for-4 | 3 | HR |
| Spencer Torkelson | 2-for-5 | 1 | 2B |
| Riley Greene | 3-for-5 | 0 | 2 2B |
| Dillon Dingler | 2-for-4 | 1 | — |
Detroit finished 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left five.
On the mound
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Mize | 5.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Holton (W) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Lee (H) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tommy Kahnle (H) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brant Hurter | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Brenan Hanifee | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mize’s lone blemish was Junior Caminero’s fourth-inning homer. Holton earned the win with a clean sixth.
Notable
- Weather: 89 °F, sunny, wind 5 mph in from center.
- Delay: light rain stopped play for eleven minutes during Detroit’s ninth-inning rally.
- Umpires: HP Edwin Jimenez, 1B Paul Clemons, 2B Ramon De Jesus, 3B Quinn Wolcott.
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