DETROIT -- Kevin McGonigle’s first Major League home run was a well-earned drive off a Cy Young Award winner. The Tigers' top prospect took a Sandy Alcantara fastball deep into Comerica Park’s right-field seats in the fifth inning of their 8-2 win in the series finale against the Mariners on Sunday afternoon.
McGonigle has had plenty of feats in the first two-plus weeks of his career, including a four-hit game in his MLB debut in San Diego. He was still waiting for his first big league homer despite several close calls, including an over-the-fence catch by Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill during the opening series.
There was no bringing back Sunday’s drive. McGonigle, who had flown out and singled off Alcantara in his first two at-bats, got a first-pitch fastball. Baseball's No. 2 prospect jumped it, as he was apt to do with first-pitch fastballs in Spring Training, and sent it a Statcast-projected 408 feet to right.
The Tigers have no formal dugout celebration for home runs, but they mobbed McGonigle with hugs and high-fives in the dugout. Meanwhile, the fan who caught McGonigle’s homer saw his own rush of attention from his seat neighbors -- and from the Tigers, who wanted the ball for McGonigle to keep.
The home run added onto the run support for Tarik Skubal in his start opposite Alcantara, a duel the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award-winner was already winning.