BALTIMORE -- The last time the Tigers were 20 games over .500, their lineup was stacked with stars Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter, and their rotation boasted Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sánchez. That was in 2013, when they finished 93-69 in the final season of Jim Leyland’s Hall of Fame managerial career. They came within two games of a return to the World Series before falling to the Red Sox in six games in the American League Championship Series.
As the Tigers celebrated on the field Tuesday at Camden Yards, having finished off a 5-3 win over the Orioles in the series opener to move to 44-24, they weren’t thinking that far ahead. They weren’t thinking about the record at all. They keep thinking toward winning the next game and putting any setbacks quickly behind them.
In some ways, it fits the way Spencer Torkelson and other Tigers approach at-bats. Like a lot of hitters these days, Torkelson doesn’t really have a specific two-strike approach.
“My 0-0 approach, my 1-0, my 2-0, I’m not trying to do too much,” he said. “So it’s basically a two-strike approach. Nothing really changes unless I’m not seeing a guy well.”
Unlike many hitters in the Majors this year, Torkelson keeps doing damage in those situations.
As he worked his way to a full count in the fifth inning, he was ready for O’s lefty starter Cade Povich to go back to his fastball, the pitch that Torkelson fouled off to fall into a 1-2 count, the pitch he’d fanned on with a 2-2 count in the first inning. This time, Torkelson declined to chase back-to-back changeups out of the zone to run the count full. He got out in front of a curveball in the zone, but pulled it foul to stay alive.
“That’s just compete mode,” Torkelson said.
When Povich finally went back to the fastball, Torkelson crushed it. He rarely homers to straightaway center, but it indicated how well he’d centered it. The resulting drive went 419 feet for a two-run homer to extend Detroit’s lead, providing the eventual deciding margin.
Torkelson’s 16th homer of the season was his 10th out of a two-strike count, the same total he hit during his 31-homer season in 2023. He entered Tuesday tied with Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh and Mets star Pete Alonso for the MLB lead with nine two-strike homers this season.
“I think it’s just part of his game plan to just stay on the ball,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I think it’s the way he bounces back from tough at-bats. He had a couple tough ones to start the game, but he’s pretty resilient. He has a game plan going up there, and when he gets a good pitch to hit, he’s doing a lot of damage.”
The Tigers hit for the cycle with two outs in the fifth inning after Povich retired the first two batters. The rally began with Riley Greene fouling off three consecutive pitches before crushing a 110.5-mph double to the wall in right-center. It ended with Zach McKinstry’s second triple of the game and seventh of the season, tied with Boston’s Jarren Duran and Arizona's Corbin Carroll for the MLB lead.
This is what the Tigers do when they’re going well. They work at-bats, find their pitch and find ways to do damage. It doesn’t have to be a home run; Dillon Dingler’s RBI single was a blooper into shallow right.
All but one of Detroit’s runs scored on two-out rallies. The other came when McKinstry stretched his first triple, setting up Wenceel Pérez for a sacrifice fly to open the scoring.
“All wins are great, no matter how pretty they are, or not pretty,” Torkelson said. “But today was a pretty win.”
The Tigers improved to 13-4 against left-handed starters this season, the best record in the Majors, yet some of their biggest at-bats came from left-handed hitters. They taxed Povich for 98 pitches over 4 2/3 innings. Of those, 19 pitches went to Greene, who entered Tuesday leading the AL with 86 strikeouts. He worked out of an 0-2 hole by fouling off five pitches for a 10-pitch walk in the first inning and singled with two outs in the third.
Likewise, five of McKinstry’s seven triples have come against lefties, reflecting his reverse splits.
“We have a pretty resilient group,” Hinch said. “We did put some good swings together and good innings together, maybe when you least expect it. You have to stay in the inning and come up with some big swings. To separate ourselves and get some key two-out hits and two-strike hits, that’s winning baseball.”