Spencer Torkelson had one of the best views of anyone in Comerica Park during the Detroit Tigers' home opener against the Chicago White Sox.
Batting out of the No. 4 hole, Torkelson stood at the top of the dugout steps as Kerry Carpenter clubbed two home runs — one pulled into the right-field foul pole and then another the opposite way into the Tigers' bullpen in left. Later on, he was even closer when Riley Greene smoked a no-doubt home run halfway up the seats in right field.
"I got a really good seat, front row," Torkelson said.
The Tigers (3-4) hit three solo home runs to support starting pitcher Jack Flaherty in the 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. All of the long-distance damage came from the two lefties perched atop the batting order, Carpenter and Greene.
The bottom of the lineup also produced runs thanks to RBI hits from Dillon Dingler, Zach McKinstry and Trey Sweeney. But Carpenter got the scoring started, added some insurance in what appeared to be an unfavorable matchup for him and Greene put the finishing touches on a dominant win with one of the hardest hit balls of his career.
Carpenter drove out his first home run of the season on a first-pitch sweeper from starter Jonathan Cannon in the first inning. The line drive traveled down the right-field line and just nicked the foul pole to keep the 345-foot shot fair.
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"He kind of just laid a little sweeper in there," Carpenter said. "I wanted to be ready for anything because he throws a lot of strikes. They pound the zone and I ended up getting that one."
Two pitches later, Greene shot an outside sinker back up the middle for a single. It was the start of a three-hit performance for Greene, who led the team at the plate while also manning center field.
