Former Detroit Tiger Curtis Granderson on player buy-in and 2025 team’s potential
Former Tiger Curtis Granderson breaks down how effective managers lead their players and how far the 2025 Detroit Tigers could go this season.
The Detroit Tigers kept bending.
But Javier Báez refused to let them break.
The Tigers squandered four leads — 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 6-4 — across the first eight innings on May 13 against the Boston Red Sox. In the bottom of the 11th, Báez saved the day and lifted the Tigers to a thrilling 10-9 win with a three-run, walk-off home run.
It was Báez’s second homer of the game.
The 32-year-old — a shortstop-turned-center fielder — is hitting .319 with five home runs and an .870 OPS in 34 games.
The Tigers (28-15) own the best record in the American League.
Both teams traded runs in the 10th inning, with Trey Sweeney keeping the Tigers alive in the bottom of the 10th by hitting a two-out RBI single — his first hit of the game — to tie the game at 7-7.
Chaos continued in the 11th inning.
Reliever Beau Brieske retired the most dangerous hitters in the Red Sox lineup — striking out Rafael Devers and inducing a flyout from Alex Bregman — but he couldn’t put away the youngest hitter in the Red Sox lineup.
Kristian Campbell, a 22-year-old from the 2023 draft, slapped Brieske’s first-pitch sinker and drove it the opposite way for a two-run home run, giving the Red Sox a 9-7 lead in the top of the 11th.
In the bottom of the 11th, Báez stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and no outs, facing reliever Greg Weissert. He got the pitch he was hunting and didn’t miss, launching a first-pitch sweeper at the bottom of the strike zone over the left-field wall for a three-run home run.
The Tigers won, 10-9.
It was Báez’s first multi-homer game in his four-year career with the Tigers, spanning 394 games.
The Tigers had a 6-4 lead entering the eighth inning, but reliever Tommy Kahnle — who inherited a runner from fellow reliever Brenan Hanifee — surrendered a two-run home run to David Hamilton with two outs.
Just like that, it was a 6-6 tie.
Javier Báez’s first homer of the game
In the sixth inning, Báez provided a 6-4 lead with a three-run home run.
To set the table, Spencer Torkelson drew a walk and Jace Jung was hit by a pitch. Despite Jung’s struggles, he grinded through eight pitches and refused to go down swinging, ultimately getting the free pass that extended the inning. After that, Báez turned on a slider at the bottom of the strike zone from right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock.
Not only did Báez win the game with his bat, he also created a run with havoc on the bases.
Báez — nicknamed “El Mago” for his instincts — appeared to be out on a back-pick, with Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez trying to nab him at third base for the second out in the third inning, but as he retreated back to the bag, he ran through the throwing lane.
The ball deflected off him and skipped into the outfield.
Báez trotted home for a 2-1 lead.
Spencer Torkelson matches Alex Bregman
Tigers fans continued to boo Bregman on Tuesday.
Bregman, who signed with the Red Sox over the Tigers in free agency, blasted a hanging slider from right-hander Keider Montero for a solo home run to left field. His 10th homer of the season tied the game, 2-2, in the top of the fourth inning.
Bregman is hitting .304 with a .948 OPS in 43 games.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Torkelson answered with an opposite-field solo home run off a two-strike sinker from right-hander Brayan Bello — a pitch left over the middle of the zone. The homer would’ve cleared the fence in just eight of MLB’s 30 ballparks, including Comerica Park.
His blast put the Tigers back on top, 3-2.
Torkelson, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, is hitting .240 with 11 home runs in 43 games this season, following just 10 homers in 92 games last season.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This story was updated to add a gallery.
