DETROIT — The Tigers’ nine-game losing streak included four games in which they fell behind on their opponents’ final attacks. They hadn’t won since Rajai Davis’ walk-off grand slam against the A’s on June 30, 2014, when they were three behind at the start of the ninth inning. They hadn’t won a game since late May—a game at AL Central.
All the Tigers had to do Monday night was beat a Braves team that had won seven of eight wins and came to town with the best record in the National League. After not having a deserved run against Charlie Morton since 2017, Detroit had to recover against a veteran-studded bullpen that included arguably the club’s best reliever Joe Jiménez last year. And with rotation decimated by injuries, the Tigers also had to put together a bullpen start.
“I think it goes back to what we felt ten games ago: we’ll never get out,” Spencer Torkelson said almost matter-of-factly after the 6-5 win in the 10th inning on Monday.
Perhaps the Tigers have had some luck over the past few weeks, from Riley Greene’s leg injury to back-to-back losses for Alex Lange to the Diamondbacks’ ninth-inning march on Sunday. Or maybe Detroit just had to believe in his approach during one of their toughest offensive periods.
As the Tigers celebrated on the field Monday after recovering from four runs behind and four outs left with the help of Torkelson’s tape-measured home run and walk-off single into the deep middle, the toll the losing streak was taking was clear demanded taken, and what a relief it was to finish it.
“It’s huge,” said Torkelson, whose 440-foot drive off the wall in left midfield provided the jolt Detroit needed in the ninth round. “It wasn’t fun. We’ve been through that for a while, but I think every team does that. There are 162 games. You can’t be perfect over the whole 162 so you just have to push through and try to ride the highs for as long as possible.”
It was clear how much it meant to manager AJ Hinch when he managed to get his bullpen all in to finish off Arizona on Sunday, even though he knew how great a challenge Atlanta would pose . Just when things were looking bleak and a 10-game losing streak was on the horizon for the first time since 2019, Detroit staged its best rally in nine years.
“I think my heart could have used it if it was a little easier,” Hinch said. “But that was a really fun win and a team win. And the clubhouse needed it.”
Torkelson, whose promising May had dissolved into June in a 5-for-33 start, missed RBI chances early in the game. In the third inning, he knocked out Morton with two ons and an out, beat Morton with a runner on second to finish the fifth, and then slammed a runner on AJ Minter in the seventh inning. He took on Raisel Iglesias looking for damage after a leadoff single in the ninth game, but then refocused.
“To be honest, the first pitch change he threw at me kind of surprised me,” said Torkelson. “It was a really good pitch. And so I kind of softened the approach and said, ‘Don’t try to do too much.’ Take a base hit here.’ And actually I had a good pitch to hit. I guess that’s what happens when you have a simple approach.”
Kerry Carpenter’s single provided the decisive breakthrough. Nick Maton broke up a game-winning double play and extended the rally with two two-out singles from Matt Vierling and Zack Short to equalize.
Andy Ibáñez, whose home run opened Detroit’s goal in the seventh inning, struck at short but then threw Sean Murphy to the plate in the top part of the 10th inning. All Torkelson needed in the bottom half was a flyball to put Ibáñez, the runner on second base, home with an out. Torkelson had to get rid of his ex-teammate Jimenez.
“He’s a great pitcher. He was traded for a reason,” Torkelson said. “He’s really good at what he does. I was really just trying not to do too much. I know him and I know his stuff, he likes his fastball so I was there.”
When Torkelson lifted the ball into midfield, he also took on the burden of the losing streak.
“The character of this team is good,” said Hinch. “I know the last 10, 12 days haven’t been great, but we’ll play to the end. That’s a feature of this team. It turned out great today.”