DETROIT — It didn’t matter when. It didn’t matter where. It certainly didn’t matter who.
Nothing could stop the ball from sailing out of the yard at Comerica Park Wednesday, as the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves combined for 11 home runs in a Wednesday doubleheader that saw the visitors leave town with a sweep.
The 11 home runs averaged 408.5 feet of distance, topping out with Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 461-foot bomb to dead center in Game 2.
Game 1 saw the Tigers jump quickly on Braves starter Spencer Strider and take a 4-0 lead behind homers from Spencer Torkelson (436 feet), Eric Haase (427) and even Miguel Cabrera (406). The longtime Tigers slugger found his first homer of the year, depositing a first-pitch fastball into the seats in left. Cabrera also doubled in Game 1, his fourth double in four games.
Haase homered in the at-bat after Cabrera's, marking the second time this year the Tigers have hit back-to-back home runs and the first since May 4 in a 2-0 win over the New York Mets.
The lead did not hold long. Acuna cut the deficit in half with a two-run homer in the third.
"I didn't think it was a terrible pitch to Acuna that he hit out. He's a good hitter. Probably could have put it a little more off the plate, but not a terrible pitch," Tigers starter Reese Olson said. "... They're one of the best teams in the league for a reason. They're solid throughout. ... I didn't try to approach the game any differently than my first two. It just wasn't my day."
The Braves didn’t need the long ball to put up a five-run fourth. Orlando Arcia, Kevin Pillar, Michael Harris and Acuna all brought in runs (Harris brought in two) to give Atlanta a 7-4 lead. Harris in Game 1 was 4 for 4 with a solo homer and four RBIs.
"Getting ahead of guys, I've done that well my first two outings and then did start did it to start my outing today, and then to start the fourth inning, just couldn't find it," Olson (0-2, 6.08 ERA) said. He went 3 1/3 innings with five hits, seven runs, two walks and two strikeouts. He threw 89 pitches and 57 strikes.
Tigers right-hander Brendan White made his MLB debut in the sixth inning. White, taken in the 26th round of the 2019 draft, struck out two of three batters (Ozzie Albies, Pillar) before giving up a home run to Harris in the seventh. He pitched two innings, gave up two hits and struck out three.
Detroit and Atlanta each added three more runs throughout the game and the Tigers had their opportunities to jump right back in — they loaded the bases in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth — but couldn’t fully make the comeback and dropped the game, 10-7.
A sacrifice fly from Austin Riley gave the Braves a run in the opening frame of Game 2, but it was the home run ball that would help Atlanta command a multi-run lead, and eventually, the 6-5 win.
Albies hit a solo home run 412 feet to right field, and an inning later, Acuna hit his bomb to center field as Atlanta took a 3-0 lead.
A solo home run by Tigers second baseman Andy Ibanez gave Detroit life in the third inning but was outdone by two Atlanta runs the next half-inning to make it 5-1. Arcia and Eddie Rosario scored on a ground ball that got by Tigers shortstop Javy Baez.
Apparently, a deficit was just what the doctor ordered for Detroit's offense.
Matt Vierling led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo homer to left field and Jake Rogers hit his ninth homer of the year later in the inning, a three-run bomb and his third homer in the month of June to tie the game at 5-5.
Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen pitched 6 innings and gave up nine hits, six runs, six earned, two walks, three homers and struck out six. Braves starter Dylan Dodd was chased a bit earlier, after the four-run fourth. He gave up six hits and five earned runs with three walks and two strikeouts.
In the end, it was, of course, a home run that made the difference. Rosario barely cleared the wall in right field to give the Braves a 6-5 lead in the sixth. Rogers stepped to the plate with one out in the ninth and hit a ball to the warning track.
