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The Detroit Tigers are making serious noise in the American League — and they just hit a milestone fans haven’t seen in over a decade. With Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, the Tigers improved to 44-24, pushing themselves 20 games above .500 for the first time since the star-studded 2013 squad led by Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander.
This time around, it was Spencer Torkelson leading the charge. Torkelson launched his 16th home run of the season — a 419-foot blast to center — as part of a three-run fifth inning that proved to be the difference. His clutch two-run shot came after a patient at-bat, during which he refused to chase two changeups out of the zone before fouling off a curveball to stay alive.
“That’s just compete mode,” Torkelson said. “I’m not trying to do too much. I stick to the same plan every count.”
His discipline paid off. Torkelson now leads all AL first basemen in home runs (16) and RBIs (47), and trails only Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda in OPS.
Torkelson’s homer followed back-to-back two-out hits from Riley Greene and rookie catcher Dillon Dingler. Greene doubled after battling through a tough at-bat, and Dingler knocked him in with a bloop single to give Detroit a 3-1 lead. One pitch later, Torkelson broke the game open. Zach McKinstry capped the rally with his second triple of the game, giving the Tigers a cycle in the inning — all with two outs.
The Tigers are the hottest team in baseball
“All wins are great, no matter how pretty they are, or not pretty,” Torkelson said. “But today was a pretty win.”
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While the offense did the heavy lifting in the middle innings, Detroit’s unconventional pitching plan worked to perfection. Manager A.J. Hinch started lefty Brant Hurter to counter Baltimore’s left-handed hitters before turning to Sawyer Gipson-Long in the fourth.
Gipson-Long was electric, tossing 4⅔ innings and allowing just two hits while striking out five. He threw 78% of his 51 pitches for strikes and relied heavily on his changeup, generating six whiffs on 11 swings. The 27-year-old righty, making just his second MLB appearance since 2023 after elbow and hip surgeries, topped out at 94.6 mph — nearly 2 mph higher than his average velocity last season.
“He’s sharp,” Hinch said. “His changeup was a difference-maker.”
Detroit’s bullpen held strong down the stretch. Tommy Kahnle escaped a jam in the eighth, and after Jordan Westburg’s leadoff homer in the ninth made it a 5-3 game, Will Vest retired the next three batters to earn his 11th save in 13 chances.
The Tigers are now a league-best 13-4 against left-handed starters and continue to get production from both sides of the plate — a sign of a team coming into its own.
“We have a pretty resilient group,” Hinch said. “To separate ourselves and get some key two-out hits and two-strike hits, that’s winning baseball.”
