DETROIT (AP) — Gleyber Torres homered twice and Riley Greene drove in four runs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Cincinnati Reds 11-5 on a rainy Friday night.
Greene had a solo homer in the third and a three-run double in the sixth as the Tigers improved to 19-4 in series openers. TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz homered for the Reds.
Torres homered on the first pitch from Nick Martinez (4-7). It was Torres’ fourth career leadoff homer, with the first three coming for the Yankees.
TJ Friedl tied it with a third-inning homer off Keider Montero (3-1), but Greene homered over the Cincinnati bullpen to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the inning.
Javier Báez homered in the fourth to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead, but Elly De La Cruz hit his 14th homer in the fifth — the fifth solo homer of the game.
Detroit finally created some distance with a four-run sixth. Martinez walked Báez to start the inning and was replaced by Scott Barlow, who allowed a single and a walk to load the bases. Torres ended Barlow’s outing with a sacrifice fly, but Taylor Rogers didn’t fare any better.
Jahmai Jones’ infield single reloaded the bases and Greene made it 7-2 with a three-run double past a diving Spencer Steer in left. An intentional walk and an error loaded the bases for the third time in the inning, but Ian Gibault replaced Rogers and got the final two outs.
Torres homered again in the seventh and Báez hit an RBI double in a three-run eighth. De La Cruz had an RBI double and scored in a three-run ninth for Cincinnati.
The game started seven minutes late due to rain that fell throughout the night.
Key moment
If Steer could have made the diving catch in the sixth inning, the Reds could have gotten out of it only down 4-2.
Key stat
Rogers has 201 career RBIs. making him the first Tigers hitter to reach 200 before his 25th birthday since Travis Fryman in 1993.
Up next
Detroit RHP Jack Flaherty (5-6, 3.41) was set to face RHP Brady Singer (6-4, 4.59) on Saturday.
___
AP NBA:
