DETROIT -- Wenceel Pérez was undeterred in his quest for his first double-digit home run season, grinding out a 10-pitch at-bat that included a drive just outside the right-field foul pole before he sent a Spencer Arrighetti pitch deep to right-center.
The Tigers have piled up long, productive at-bats in recent days, including nine walks on Saturday in Minnesota. Pérez has been particularly productive, entering Monday batting .318 (14-for-44) with two homers, five RBIs, seven walks and 11 strikeouts in August. But he had never had a home run in as long of an at-bat as Monday’s duel with Arrighetti, who put him into an 0-2 count but struggled to finish him off.
All six of Pérez’s swings were on pitches in the strike zone, including four foul balls with two strikes to keep the at-bat alive. He fouled off two curveballs, a big point for a hitter who entered Monday batting just .164 on breaking balls with a 38.3 percent whiff rate, according to Statcast.
On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Pérez sent an Arrighetti changeup deep down the right-field line for a long foul ball. A curveball well off the plate ran the count full.
Pérez just missed a 3-2 cutter over the plate, fouling it back. Arrighetti went back to the cutter in nearly the same spot, and Pérez crushed it. His 10th home run of the season topped his total from his rookie season last year.
It also tied Spencer Torkelson’s July 3 homer at Washington for the longest home run at-bat by a Tiger this season. Detroit became the fourth team in the Majors this season with multiple homers in at-bats lasting 10 or more pitches, joining the Nationals (three), Giants (three) and Braves (two).