DETROIT -- The Tigers have not yet come up with a home run celebration for this season. They¡¯re looking for an idea to present itself spontaneously, according to Riley Greene.
¡°That was [Jake] Rogers¡¯ job this year,¡± said Spencer Torkelson, the creative mind behind the hockey-themed celebration two years ago and last year¡¯s Little Caesars celebration. ¡°He kind of fumbled that. ¡ I pass the baton and look what happens.¡±
Said Rogers: ¡°It¡¯s kind of been put on my head to do that. I¡¯m pretty traditional as it is. There¡¯s been some really good ideas.¡±
The way they¡¯re hitting lately, they¡¯re giving themselves every opportunity to brainstorm.
For a second consecutive afternoon, the Tigers unleashed an offensive barrage on White Sox pitching. Kerry Carpenter¡¯s third home run in two days and Torkelson¡¯s second homer of the season highlighted a seven-run outburst in the first three innings to cruise to a 7-2 win Saturday at Comerica Park.
The Tigers have won four of five this week after being swept over three games at Dodger Stadium last week to begin the season. They¡¯ve outscored the Mariners and Sox by a 29-16 margin in that stretch, including seven runs in each of the first two games of this series.
¡°It¡¯s nice to stack these wins together and just keep getting a little more confident,¡± Carpenter said.
In the process, they¡¯ve shown that a roster designed to leverage pitching and defense in the wake of injuries around the lineup has some offensive punch, particularly in the middle of the order.
¡°When you get the middle of your order participating the way we are, and producing the way that we are, there¡¯s 30 managers that would love to have that,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°It takes a ton of pressure off the rest of the lineup.¡±
Also, it takes pressure off the pitcher. On a day when Reese Olson delivered six quality innings without his most effective arsenal, Chicago¡¯s first-inning lead on Andrew Vaughn¡¯s RBI double lasted just three batters into the bottom of the frame. Justyn-Henry Malloy walked and scored on Greene¡¯s single, then Torkelson¡¯s double to left off a Davis Martin slider moved Greene in position to score on an Andy Ib¨¢?ez two-out infield single -- his first hit of the season.
¡°Makes my job a little bit easier,¡± said Olson.
From there, the Tigers slugged away on Martin. Carpenter, who homered twice in Friday¡¯s home opener and flew out to center in the first inning Saturday, didn¡¯t miss a hanging curveball from Martin to begin his second at-bat, crushing it down the right-field line for a two-run homer. It would¡¯ve been out of all 30 Major League parks according to Statcast.
It was a classic example of Carpenter¡¯s load-first approach: Be ready for the fastball, but still able to react to offspeed.
¡°It popped out of his hand, and instincts just took over,¡± Carpenter said. ¡°I waited a little longer.¡±
Torkelson, who batted just 4-for-42 against offspeed pitches last year according to Statcast, pounced when Martin tried to finish him off with a 2-2 changeup on the inside corner leading off the third inning. The drive to left was his first home run since Opening Day and ignited a three-run inning to put the Tigers in command.
¡°Just trying to compete,¡± said Torkelson, who now has half as many hits off changeups this year as he did all of last season. ¡°I¡¯m looking out over [the plate] and it was inside. Just tried to pull the hands in and get the barrel to it.¡±
Torkelson¡¯s ability to catch up with fastballs has been a big force behind his resurgence. But his ability to read and react, staying instinctive instead of too mechanical, is just as important for him, especially as opponents tweak their scouting reports.
¡°Tork can hit every pitch,¡± Hinch said. ¡°I think for him, it¡¯s about game planning. It¡¯s also about trusting what you see and what your reactions are.¡±
The Tigers ranked 24th in the Majors last season with 162 home runs. They entered Saturday evening tied for seventh in MLB with 11 and sixth in runs with 41. Eight of their homers have come from Carpenter, Torkelson and Greene.
For now, they are blanked on home run celebrations, but they¡¯re working on it, possibly celebrating their NBA neighbors, the playoff-bound Pistons.
¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to top pizza and hockey celebrations,¡± Rogers said. ¡°There¡¯s been some talk around doing basketball with a little hoop and a ball, but we haven¡¯t figured out the logistics. Do we want to dunk it? Shoot the three? Trying to figure something out.¡±