Greene Day! All-Star lifts Tigers with 2 HRs off Messick, 4-hit showing

CLEVELAND – Riley Greene loves hitting at Progressive Field, even if the numbers don’t always show it. The Tigers’ All-Star slugged a pair of opposite-field solo homers off Guardians rookie starter Parker Messick in a four-hit, four-RBI performance, powering Detroit out of its doldrums and supporting starter Framber Valdez over seven scoreless innings for a 6-0 win over the Guardians on Saturday night.

Greene entered Saturday batting just .168 (19-for-113) for his career in this park, but his five home runs matched his highest total at any stadium other than Comerica Park. He went hitless in Friday afternoon’s series opener, but got back to work Saturday against the left-handed Messick, who had allowed just four of his 18 career homers to lefty hitters but had yielded a homer to Greene last September.

Greene fouled off a pair of Messick fastballs to begin his first at-bat on Saturday, but when Messick tried to finish him off with a cutter, Greene saw it over the plate and crushed it, sending it deep to left-center.

Messick came back at Greene with an 0-1 elevated sinker during his at-bat with runners at first and second and one out in the third inning, but Greene fought it off for a line-drive RBI single into center.

Messick got on a roll from there, retiring eight consecutive batters – five by strikeout – before Greene came back up to lead off the sixth inning. Messick tried to put a fastball on the outside corner but left it over the plate for Greene to crush again, nearly to the same spot as his first homer but even further into the bleachers. The Statcast-projected 421-foot drive extended Detroit’s lead to 3-0.

Greene’s display spoiled an outing in which Messick set a career high with 12 strikeouts over six innings. Matt Festa replaced Messick for the seventh inning but had no better luck with Greene, who barely missed a third homer with an RBI double off the fence in right-center.

Greene tied single-game career highs in homers and hits, while his four RBIs marked his best performance since his career-high-tying six RBIs on July 2, 2025 at Washington.

It was the kind of offensive outburst the Tigers missed badly while Greene was on the injured list for most of August with a hamstring strain; Detroit stood in second place in the AL Central, just a half-game out of a Wild Card spot, when Greene strained his hamstring and left their Aug. 11 win over the Guardians at Comerica Park. The Tigers went 4-14 with Greene out before his return Tuesday in Minnesota.

Valdez took Saturday’s run support and cruised, allowing just three singles and a walk while inducing 11 ground-ball outs and two double plays. It was arguably his best performance of the season, earning him his first win – and the first victory for any Tigers starter– since Aug. 17 in Pittsburgh.