Dingler and Vierling homer, Tigers hold off Giants 5-4 to avoid sweep

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dillon Dingler hit his first career home run, Matt Vierling also went deep, and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Sunday to avoid the three-game series sweep.

Colt Keith added two hits and an RBI and three Tigers relievers combined for four shutout innings to back rookie Keider Montero’s uneven outing.

Detroit’s 19th one-run win of the season snapped a three-game losing streak for manager A.J. Hinch’s ballclub.

“Obviously encouraged with the way we finished,” Hinch said after his club completed a 3-3 road trip. “It was a good game, it was a good road trip despite the games that we always dwell on, the ones that got away. But proud of the group today coming in and getting us a happy flight.”

Dingler hit a two-run home run in the second inning then doubled and scored in the fifth. Both hits came off Giants starter Hayden Birdsong.

“They were attacking me early, a lot of back-door stuff with sinkers,” Dingler said. “I figured that I was just going to get some four-seams, in the first couple (at-bats) especially, so I kind of took advantage of it and (Birdsong) left a couple that were over the plate.”

Montero (3-5) gave up four runs on five hits and four walks. Tyler Holton retired four batters and Brenan Hanifee set down five. Will Vest earned his first save of the season when he got Heliot Ramos to strike out looking for the final out.

Matt Chapman had three hits and three RBIs for the Giants, who lost for the fourth time in their last 16 games.

“We were down some runs, we came back and made it a game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Continued to push and that’s been the consistent theme with us.”

Vierling, who sat out the previous two games with back spasms, got the Tigers going with his third leadoff home run this season.

Dingler hit a ground-rule double and scored in the fifth. Keith also singled in a run to put the Tigers ahead 5-2.

“We did a lot on every aspect of the game,” Dingler said. “A lot of PFPs, a lot of good situational hitting, two-out hits, pitching was great.”

The Giants scored twice in the sixth when Chapman singled in a run and scored on Jerar Encarnacion’s double to make it 5-4.

The Tigers made a pair of strong defensive plays in the eighth to preserve their one-run lead.

Chapman tripled leading off the inning but was thrown out at home trying to score on Mark Canha’s fielder’s choice grounder. Hanifee then fielded Patrick Bailey’s comebacker and caught Canha in a rundown between second and third.

Birdsong (3-2) struggled, allowing five runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He now has a 17.06 ERA over his last two starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: INF Thairo Estrada (left wrist sprain) did some running before the game, although Melvin indicated the plan is to proceed carefully to avoid another setback.

Tigers: LHP Tarik Skubal (13-4, 2.57 ERA) faces the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday in Detroit. Skubal has the lowest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the majors.

Giants: LHP Blake Snell (2-3, 4.31) takes on the Atlanta Braves and LHP Chris Sale (13-3, 2.75) on Monday.

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