ATLANTA -- The Tigers’ offense broke through late, backing a strong outing from Framber Valdez to rally past the Braves in their 5-2 comeback win Thursday afternoon at Truist Park.
Detroit got on the board in the top of the sixth, when Matt Vierling singled on a fly ball to deep right field, scoring Riley Greene from second after he had worked a walk earlier in the inning.
The Tigers remained quiet until the eighth. Kerry Carpenter sparked the rally with a triple on a sharp fly ball to center, and Vierling followed by lining a double into left on a first-pitch sweeper to tie the game at 2.
Hao-Yu Lee then drew a walk from reliever Joel Payamps, prompting a pitching change as Atlanta turned to Aaron Bummer. With one out, Kevin McGonigle worked a walk to load the bases, and Vierling came home on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres, giving Detroit its first lead of the day.
That late surge supported Valdez, who has continued to stabilize a Tigers rotation dealing with injuries, including Casey Mize landing on the IL on Wednesday. The 32-year-old delivered six innings, allowing two runs while striking out eight and issuing no walks.
Valdez’s command marked a turnaround from his previous start in Cincinnati, when he issued five walks over 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander generated 21 whiffs (36.2% whiff rate) and retired the final 10 batters to end his outing.
After Detroit's first two hitters struck out to open the ninth, pinch-hitter Wenceel Pérez worked the the team's seventh walk of the day. Vierling followed with a ground-ball single to left field, and Pérez came all the way around to score, sliding home to extend Detroit’s lead. Dillon Dingler had a double of his own to close out the inning, scoring Vierling from second.