Tigers cruise behind Dingler's 3-run blast, Montero's quality start

DETROIT -- Despite a taxed pitching staff and an injury-depleted roster, the Tigers powered their way to a badly-needed victory with a Dillon Dingler three-run home run and 6 2/3 quality innings from Keider Montero, leading Detroit to a 5-1 win over Texas on Saturday night at Comerica Park.

The Tigers had lost five of their previous seven games while also losing a handful of players to the injured list, most recently reliever Will Vest, starter Casey Mize and shortstop Javier Báez. They lost Gleyber Torres after three innings on Saturday due to left side tightness, but by then they had the runs they needed thanks to an early outburst against Rangers starter Kumar Rocker.

Rocker was a strike away from escaping the opening inning unscathed, having been spared a run when right fielder Ezequiel Duran threw out Torres at the plate on a Riley Greene single. But Rocker’s 1-2 slider to Dingler hung in the zone for Dingler to crush a Statcast-projected 443 feet to left field for his sixth homer of the year, tying Kerry Carpenter for the team lead.

The Tigers used well-placed singles and stolen bases to tack on two more runs in the second inning on back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Kevin McGonigle and Torres.

Rocker, who tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Tigers last July in Arlington, lasted just two innings on Saturday, allowing five runs on six hits in 43 pitches. By comparison, Montero cruised on a night when the Tigers needed innings ahead of a bullpen game on Sunday.

Montero retired 11 of Texas’ first 13 batters, allowing just a pair of third-inning walks, until Jake Burger sent a first-pitch fastball deep to left for a fourth-inning homer. Montero scattered four more singles the rest of the way, earning his first win since April 10.