Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter, and Zach McKinstry all went yard in this one.
As they generally do after a loss, the Detroit Tigers responded by bludgeoning the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. Casey Mize threw a good game, and the Tigers pounded four home runs to win pretty comfortably despite a few late runs for Minnesota. The rubber match in the series has been moved to a night game on ESPN, which irritates me, but Tarik Skubal deserves the center stage as the Tigers look to take another series against an AL Central rival.
Casey Mize still hasn’t recaptured the groove he was in before his hamstring injury in May, but he has been rounding back toward that form recently. He had a new center fielder behind him as Matt Vierling was recalled from his rehab assignment in Toledo. Trey Sweeney, whose playing time has disappeared over the past month, was optioned down to try and get himself straightened out at the plate.
Meanwhile, the Twins were going with large right-hander Bailey Ober. The Tigers haven’t seen Ober this season, but after a great April and May, he has not been pitching well at all in June, allowing 23 earned runs in his last four outings. Make that 30 earned runs in his last five outings when this one was over.
Byron Buxton started the game with a single, while Trevor Larnach lined out. Mize handled business by striking out Willi Castro on a splitter after a long battle. He then got Carlos Correa with a high inside fastball that completed tied him up to end the inning.
Casey Mize’s 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/x4kzv1gvqP
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 28, 2025
Colt Keith led off the bottom half with a swinging bunt toward third base. He was stranded as Gleyber Torres and Kerry Carpenter struck out, and Riley Greene lifted a weak fly ball to left for the final out.
Mize had a quicker, more efficient second inning. Ty France lined out to Vierling in centerfield, and Brooks Lee grounded out. Kerry Carpenter, outside his comfort zone playing left field in this one, made a nice leaping catch at the fence to rob Ryan Jeffers of a solo shot to end the inning.
Speaking of great Tigers’ defense, we’ve got to give to some love to the ball boy down the left field line for this catch on a screaming line drive off the bat of Spencer Torkelson.
The Tigers quickly took some momentum from that. Spencer Torkelson ripped a doubled to left field to start the bottom of the second. Wenceel Pérez grounded out to Ober as Torkelson got to third base. Vierling’s first AB was a sacrifice fly to left that got the run home. 1-0 Tigers.
That lead didn’t last long. Harrison Bader flipped a blooper into left for a single and Mize hung a 1-0 splitter to Buxton and he smoked it to left center field for his 19th home run. 2-1 Twins.
Mize got out of the inning without further trouble, and with two outs in the bottom half, Kerry Carpenter turned on an Ober slider that hung middle-middle in a 3-2 count and crushed it to right field for his 15th homer of the year.
Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson followed with singles, but Pérez struck out. Tie ballgame.
Mize got through the fourth with just a single allowed, and the Tigers got back to work.
Vierling walked to open the bottom half, and Zach McKinstry singled to left. Jake Rogers dropped a sacrifice bunt down to advance the runners to second and third, and Colt Keith lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Vierling. Gleyber Torres followed with a two-run shot just over the left center field wall and Bader’s outstretched glove into the visitor’s bullpen. Torres’ ninth home run made it 5-2 Tigers.
Casey Mize kept the pressure on with a four pitch fifth inning, aided by a nice play by Torres. Matt Wallner chopped a little ground ball past Mize to lead off the inning, and Torres charged and glove flipped it to Torkelson perfectly.
Riley Greene was first up in the bottom of the fifth, and Ober tried to drop a 1-2 curveball on the inside corner down. Bad idea to a guy who lifts the low ball as well as anyone. Greene hammered it deep into the right field seats for his 18th home run of the year. 6-2 Tigers.
Mize came out for the sixth with his pitch count under 70 and in fine shape. He gave up a single to Larnach to start the inning, but bounced back to strike out Willi Castro. Correa grounded out to Keith at third for the second out, moving Larnach to second. Mize fell behind Ty France 3-0 before getting a strike at the top of the zone. A 96 mph heater up again was fouled off and then Mize changed levels, spotting a perfect heater down and in on the corner to punch him out. Good stuff.
No walks and five strikeouts through six innings? We like that.
Rocco Baldelli, fresh off a four-year extension that took me aback, was content to just let Bailey Ober wear all this and save his bullpen. Ober’s trouble continued as Zach McKinstry stayed back on a 1-1 changeup and lifted it fair just inside the foul pole in right for his fifth home run of the season. 7-2 Tigers.
Jake Rogers lined out after McKinstry’s shot, but Colt Keith lined a single to right field. Torres lifted a fly out to left, and finally Baldelli came to get Ober. Old friend Joey Wentz took the bump to face Carpenter. Since getting released last year, Wentz has been with the Pirates, but they DFA’d him in early June and the Twins picked him up.
Carpenter greeted him with a single right through Ty France at first, and Keith hustled it first to third. Greene lined one back to Wentz to end the inning.
Since Mize allowed the Buxton homer back in the second inning, he’d stayed aggressive, pounding the strike zone and allowing nothing particularly hard hit. He came back out for the seventh and quickly got a pair of pretty routine fly outs. He did finally issue a walk, putting Matt Wallner on with the 94th pitch of his outing, and that was the end.
Final line for Mize was 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K. Very good work.
Tommy Kahnle came on to get the last out of the seventh, and did so on one pitch. Bader swung at a changeup down and grounded out to McKinstry at shortstop.
In the bottom half, Wenceel Pérez walked with one out and Matt Vierling slashed a single to right field to get Pérez to third. McKinstry lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 8-2, and Jake Rogers drew a walk, but Keith grounded out to end the inning.
Kahnle picked a good time to have an off day. He allowed a Buxton leadoff single in the eighth before punching out Larnach and Castro. Correa launched a changeup for a two-run shot to make it 8-4, and France flew out to end the inning.
Gleyber Torres, your AL All-Star starting second baseman, walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Jahmai Jones pinch hit because AJ Hinch has no mercy in him, but popped out. Riley Greene also got under one, but it was a little slicing blooper that dropped in down the left field line for a single. Spencer Torkelson drew a walk, and Wenceel smoked a two-run double to right field for a 10-4 lead.
That last offensive outburst made things easy on Hinch, and he sent Chase Lee out to finish this one off.
It didn’t go great, as nascent pest Brooks Lee doubled to start the inning. Ryan Jeffers and Matt Wallner flew out, moving Lee to third and then home to cut the lead to 10-5 Tigers, but Lee carved up Harrison Bader to end it.
It’s a schedule 7:10 p.m ET start on ESPN for Sundays’ series deciding finale. Tarik Skubal will take on RHP Chris Paddack.