The Detroit Tigers bats came to life.
After hitting three hits on opening day, the Tigers had 12 hits, including three home runs, in Saturday’s 6-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great America Ball Park.
JaCoby Jones hit the game winner when he broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run homer against Raisel Iglesias in the ninth inning.
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Austin Romine also homered. But it was Miguel Cabrera’s monster shot in the seventh inning that propelled the Tigers.
Cabrera had looked bad striking out hitting starter Luis Castillo in his first three at-bats. But in the seventh, he hit an 89 mph cutter in Michael Lorenzen’s zone that gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
The home run was 478th in Cabrera’s career, breaking a tie with Adrian Beltre for the 30th in MLB history. It was also his 1,696 career RBI, leading him out of Cal Ripken Jr. for 25th in MLB history.
Reds catcher Curt Casali answered Cabrera’s shot with a solo homer from Tyler Alexander in the bottom of the seventh to tie at 4.
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Tigers right-hander Ivan Nova struggled in his first two innings when he gave up home runs for fastball errors in the middle to Joey Votto and Freddy Galvis when the Reds took a 3-1 lead. Nova allowed three earned runs in five innings before giving in to left-hander Tyler Alexander.
Miggy’s Day
Before his homer, Cabrera hadn’t looked as close as he did during spring training. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in the first game. He followed that up with four more strikeouts on Saturday, three hitting Castillo in two trade and a slider.
Oh ks
The Tigers got more hits, but they also smelled a ton. She struck out 17 times, with 11 strikeouts against Castillo.
Quick Start
The Tigers took their first lead of the season when they scored in the first inning. After Jonathan Schoop hit a block single, CJ Cron hit an RBI double down the left field line.
Unlucky 13
Nova is an efficient pitcher who is good at eating innings and the first inning was a good example of that efficiency. He allowed Votto a solo home run when he made a mistake on a 92mph fastball in the middle, but in total he threw just 13 innings innings, all strikes. He threw 73 pitches, with 42 for strikes in five innings.
Injury update
Victor Reyes pinch-hitting for right fielder Cameron Maybin in the eighth inning. Maybin left the game with a lower body cramp.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.
