The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles played at an earlier-than-normal time for Sunday's series finale at Comerica Park, beginning at 12:10 p.m. The Tigers needed a couple of innings to wake up, but at 1:01 p.m., nine minutes before the usual start time for a matinee matchup, Riley Greene delivered his first of two big swings.
Greene crushed a two-run home run off Cade Povich in the third inning. He also launched a solo home run off left-handed reliever Gregory Soto in the eighth inning.
He has 23 homers in 125 games.
"He's not a finished product," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I know the All-Star season can make it feel that way, but he's still learning, growing, developing and getting more and more comfortable with his game plan. I thought he did a good job with that specifically, and staying with it."
The Tigers took care of business Sunday with a 4-2 win over the Orioles, winning two of three games in the series. The Tigers (77-73) have won 22 of their last 32 games, but they're still 2½ games out of the third and final spot in the American League wild-card race, with the third-place Minnesota Twins also winning Sunday.
There are 12 games remaining.
"That's a really, really good team," Greene said. "We just keep putting ourselves in good positions to have a possible win. Our goal is to win every single game we can."
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In the third inning, Andy Ibáñez — known for his ability to hit left-handed pitchers — worked a six-pitch walk against Povich. There were two outs when Greene stepped to the plate.
Povich threw back-to-back 91 mph fastballs, both located middle-middle in the strike zone. Greene took the first pitch for a called strike, but he didn't waste the second opportunity, hitting a two-run home run 412 feet to right field.
The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead.
"I'm always on the fastball," Greene said. "I was really just trying to get a good pitch in the zone to hit."
Greene turned on the heater with a 109.2 mph exit velocity.
To get to the finish line, the Tigers called upon left-hander Tyler Holton, right-hander Will Vest and right-hander Jason Foley out of the bullpen, covering innings six, seven, eight and nine.
The Orioles trimmed the Tigers' lead to 3-2 in the eighth inning, as Adley Rutschman hit a hanging slider from Vest for a two-run home run with two strikes and two outs.
It was Rutschman's first homer since Aug. 18.
Foley, who recorded the final out in the eighth, shut down the Orioles in the ninth inning. Before that happened, Greene padded the Tigers' lead, 4-2, with a solo home run off Soto. He drove a middle-middle sweeper to the seats in right field.
"He's really good, especially left-on-left," Greene said of Soto, who pitched for the Tigers from 2019-22. "I was just trying to put the bat on the ball as best I can, just try to get something in the zone."
Greene — a first-time All-Star in 2024 — has three multi-homer games in his 317-game MLB career, spanning three seasons. He has four of his 23 homers in 13 games in September.
"He's a tremendous player as is, but he's still got room to grow," Hinch said. "That's the exciting part about him. He's a continuous learner. He works his tail off. He's always in the middle of big things for us."
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Keider Montero starts
Right-hander Keider Montero tossed five scoreless innings on five hits and one walk with one strikeout, throwing 63 pitches. The Tigers removed him after five innings so he didn't have to face Orioles slugger Anthony Santander for the third time.
Montero averaged just 93.7 mph with his fastball, down 1.1 mph from his average of 94.8 mph. The velocity on his fastball, changeup and curveball was down.
"Not dealing with anything," Hinch said. "It was strictly strategic. It was 12 outs, and you start counting them."
He generated just two whiffs on 33 swings.
More importantly, Montero didn't allow any runs in his five innings. He worked around a double in the first and second innings, then stranded two runners in scoring position in the third inning. In the third, the Orioles had their best chance to strike with one out, but Santander flew out and Heston Kjerstad grounded out.
"Probably they put so many lefties against me because I was struggling against them," Montero said in Spanish, interpreted by Carlos Guillén. "But those days are over. I controlled the lefties because I have control of the strike zone. That was the key for the game."
Montero also worked around two singles in the fourth inning.
He retired all three batters in the fifth.
It was Montero's second straight scoreless start, after he threw a complete-game shutout Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park.
Stolen base leads to key run
The Tigers manufactured a run in the sixth inning, thanks to a two-out stolen base from Matt Vierling.
The stolen base put Vierling in scoring position.
After that, Colt Keith slapped a two-strike fastball from right-handed reliever Jacob Webb to left field for an RBI single, making it 3-0.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Riley Greene's home runs power Detroit Tigers to 4-2 win over Baltimore Orioles
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