The Detroit Tigers lost 6-4 to the San Francisco Giants on Monday in the first of two exhibition games at Oracle Park in San Francisco, with the final exhibition scheduled for Tuesday.
Opening Day is Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What happened
In the fourth inning, All-Star left fielder Riley Greene turned on a middle-in slider from left-hander Robbie Ray, who won the American League Cy Young winner in 2021. He pulled the ball 439 feet to right field with a 112.8 mph exit velocity.
It was a splash hit.
The ball landed in McCovey Cove.
After Greene's home run, 2020 No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson — competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster — battled for nine pitches before pulling Ray's up-and-in 93.3 mph fastball to left-center field for a solo home run.
The back-to-back homers put the Tigers ahead, 2-1, with two outs in the fourth inning.
Starting off
The Tigers implemented a bullpen-only game, using nine relievers.
They started with left-hander Tyler Holton.
Holton surrendered a leadoff home run to Heliot Ramos, the Giants' leadoff hitter against left-handed pitchers who smoked a changeup 434 feet to center field.
Although Holton is the Tigers' best reliever, he has allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks with five strikeouts across 6⅔ innings since the beginning of spring training, spanning seven games.
At the plate
The Tigers — aside from the Greene and Torkelson home runs in the fourth inning — weren't productive on offense until two outs in the ninth inning.
That's when Torkelson drove a changeup from left-handed reliever Erik Miller the opposite way for an RBI double off the wall. Kerry Carpenter, a left-handed hitter, followed up with an RBI single against the southpaw, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 6-4. But Trey Sweeney, a fellow lefty, ground out to end the game.
As for the Giants' starter, Ray allowed two runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts across five innings, throwing 73 pitches. The Giants used four relievers to complete the final four innings.
Ryan Kreidler, who started in center field and is back in the mix for a roster spot, finished 1 for 3 with a triple off Ray's 91.8 mph fastball in the fifth inning. Right fielder Manuel Margot hit a single in the second inning, his first plate appearance since signing a one-year contract with the Tigers.
Justyn-Henry Malloy, also competing for a roster spot, went 0 for 3 with one strikeout.
On the mound
After Holton, the Tigers used eight other relievers: right-hander Brenan Hanifee, righty Jason Foley, left-hander Andrew Chafin, righty Beau Brieske, lefty Brant Hurter, righty John Brebbia, righty Tommy Kahnle and righty Will Vest.
For their six runs, the Giants scored one off Holton, three off Brieske, one off Brebbia and one off Vest.
Chafin — seeking the final spot in the bullpen — had the best performance of all the relievers in the fourth inning, retiring three of the four batters he faced and throwing 12 of 18 pitches for strikes. He stuck out Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski, with both hitters swinging and missing at sliders below the zone.
Hanfiee shoved a scoreless second inning and hasn't allowed a run in 10⅔ innings since spring training began, continuing to solidify his case for the final spot in the bullpen.
Three stars
1. Torkelson; 2. Greene; 3. Chafin.
Next up
Tuesday (8:05 p.m.) vs. Giants in San Francisco.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson hit home runs in exhibition
