DETROIT (AP) — Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit the first two homers of his MLB career, then added a game-tying single in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves won their seventh straight game with a 6-5 victory against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
The Tigers have lost five straight and eight of the past nine. Their lead in the AL Central is down to 1 1/2 games over the Cleveland Guardians, who have a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
The Braves trailed 5-4 going into the ninth. Ozzie Albies and Ha-Seong Kim started the ninth with singles off Will Vest (6-5), but he struck out Michael Harris II and Sandy León.
That brought up Alvarez, who had already homered in the third and eighth innings. He lined a single to right to tie the game and Jurickson Profar followed with a base hit to put the Braves ahead.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 27th save. Dylan Dodd (1-0) got the win in relief with a scoreless eighth.
The Tigers trailed 3-1 after the top of the third, but scored a run in the bottom of the inning, tied the game in the sixth on Zach McKinstry’s pinch-hit homer and took the 5-3 lead on Spencer Torkelson’s seventh-inning homer off Pierce Johnson.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Torkelson’s RBI single.
Alvarez tied it in the third with his first homer, and Drake Baldwin made it 3-1 with his second homer in as many games later in the inning.
Wenceel Perez cut the deficit to 3-2 with a sacrifice fly in the third.
Trailing 3-2, the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth. After a visit to the mound, Joey Wentz was allowed to face Riley Greene — his teammate in Detroit from 2022-24. Greene swung at and missed a slider, then flew out to shallow left on a 94-mph fastball.
Torkelson’s homer was his 31st, tying the career high he set in 2023.
The teams finish the weekend series on Sunday, with Tigers RHP Casey Mize (14-5, 3.88) scheduled to face RHP Spencer Strider (6-13, 4.64).
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