The Detroit Tigers had an explosive offensive performance Saturday as they beat the Houston Astros in the second game of the current three-game series, 13-5. The onslaught was led by Detroit's young star in Riley Greene who had two home runs in the game as he spoke after the contest about his performance along with the rest of the team.
There was a change in pitching for the Astros that could have been good or bad news depending on the Tigers' preparation as it was originally slated for Justin Verlander to be on the mound. However, he was scratched from the lineup and in came in Spencer Arrighetti as the Tigers players knew about the change right when they got to the ball park as said by Greene according to Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
“We knew it right when we got here,” Greene said. “We did our meeting, and we were good to go.”
Greene speaks about moving past huge game for the Tigers
One would think that with little preparation, the offense will falter, but the exact opposite happened as Detroit was on fire in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six in the second from a three-run dinger from Greene and a solo shot in the first. The Orlando-native is now on a six-game hitting streak and even with all his offensive statistics boosted after the outing, he's already willing to put it behind him for the next contest.
“I'm going to enjoy it today,” Greene said. “Tomorrow is a new day. You never know with this game. I figured out a few things last night during the game. I made some adjustments (to my approach), and I talked to Michael (Brdar, hitting coach) about it, and he's like, ‘I love it.' I'm just really trying to make those small adjustments until something clicks. Sometimes, it clicks. Sometimes, it doesn't.”
“Momentum is key for us,” Greene continued. “Just trying to ride that momentum every single day, every single at-bat. Just trying to do what we can to get more runs.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch talks about Greene's development
There is no doubt that the Tigers took advantage of the inexperienced Arrighetti as he had seven earned runs after the second inning for which he was taken out with only throwing 48 pitches. Even still, it was an impressive performance by Greene who is only 23-years old and is developing as said by Detroit manager A.J. Hinch.
“I think days like today show you not to panic about Riley,” Hinch said. “He's learning. He's growing. He gets good pitches to hit, and he does a ton of damage. It's not always perfect, not always easy. I think it's part of the development.”
Speaking of Greene, there has also been a stark contrast in his performance from last season as he hit 11 home runs in 99 games last year, but he already has 14 on the year which puts him at ninth in the American League tied with Astros' Yordan Alvarez. Hinch would double down on his thoughts, though acknowledging that a lot of work still needs to be done in forming Greene into the star the Tigers need for the foreseeable future.
“He's a really good player,” Hinch said about Greene who is in the midst of his third season in the MLB. “It doesn't surprise me in the least bit, but I don't want him to be done. We're only in June.”
Greene's favorite at-bat of the game will surprise Detroit fans
Even though Greene had an impeccable game with two huge home runs, he would not mention those at-bats as being his personal favorite of the game. He would hone in on what came to be his sixth run batted in (RBI) of the day, a career-high, where he drew a walk with the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
“That was my favorite at-bat right there,” Greene said. “I really had to stick to my approach and not do too much. I spit on some good changeups. It made me feel good about my approach.”
To some people, that might be a boring choice since he did have the aforementioned two home runs earlier, but for a player that is developing his plate discipline, he will say otherwise. Someone that massively agrees is Hinch who called the at-bat “mature” and even said while “it looks uneventful” because of the offensive night, it is “one step forward.”
“I think the most mature at-bat that he had was the walk,” Hinch said. “It looks uneventful, given the way the day went, especially for him, but it's one step forward.”
Overshadowed performance from Jack Flaherty
Despite the impressive offensive game, the pitching was also excellent as Jack Flaherty took the start for the Tigers and stalled the Astros the whole game. He would throw five innings, striking out six, only walked one, allowed three hits, and gave up zero earned runs as he talked about his outing and how he feels about the injury to his lower back.
“It feels good,” Flaherty said after the win according to Petzold of The Detroit Free Press. “I'm in a good spot. I'll just continue to evaluate it day by day and see how I keep going.”
“It was fun to watch,” Flaherty continued. “You kind of become a spectator a little bit, and you got to remind yourself to go out and execute. It was about getting loose in between. At that point, it's just fill up the zone and try to get back in the dugout as quickly as possible to let these guys keep swinging.”
It was a great game for Flaherty for his injury as with the massive amount of run support, he had the motivation to “fill up the zone” and “get back to the dugout” as quickly as possible. He threw 73 pitches in the entire outing.
“It allows you to fill up the zone,” Flaherty said of the run support. “Get a lead like that, your job is to go out and throw strikes and continue to execute.”
“It just meant that I still had some in the tank as the game went along,” Flaherty continued. “Sometimes, you get up 10-0, and it was just fill up the zone, let them put it in play and get back to the dugout.”
Tigers look for continued consistency from Greene, Flaherty
The 28-year old pitcher who signed a one-year contract with the Tigers after spending most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals now has a 3.01 ERA, 100 strikeouts (which is fifth in the majors), and has a 4-4 record. In terms of his outing, Hinch would say that it was not his velocity that was impressive, but “the finish on his pitches.”
“I'm not talking about velo,” Hinch said. “Velo is good. For him, it's the finish on his pitches, the characteristic of it, the funny swings and misses, the takes with two strikes tell me a lot about the fastball more than the velo does.”
In any sense, the Tigers are now 34-36 on the season which puts them second to last in the AL Central. They will look to win the series against the Astros Sunday afternoon.
Follow Us
Subscribe