DETROIT -- Riley Greene doesn’t challenge pitches often, but they tend to be big when he does. On Friday, he turned a called third strike into an extended at-bat for a go-ahead RBI triple, setting the Tigers loose for a four-run sixth inning that included a Dillon Dingler two-run homer to take a 6-2 win over the Rockies at Comerica Park.
Rockies starter Mason Adams flummoxed Tigers hitters for five innings, allowing only a Max Clark homer. Gleyber Torres’ one-out walk off lefty reliever Mark Manfredi set Detroit’s go-ahead rally in motion.
Spencer Torkelson just missed a go-ahead homer, flying out to the warning track in left for the second out. Manfredi had seemingly ended the threat with a called third strike, but Greene challenged plate umpire Ron Kulpa’s call. ABS showed Manfredi’s fastball to be just off the plate, giving Greene another chance. It was Greene’s ninth overturn in 13 challenges this season, with a net run value that leads Tigers batters and ranked among the top five among AL hitters entering Friday.
Manfredi went back to the fastball to try to finish off Greene, who fouled off back-to-back heaters before getting one over the middle of the plate. The resulting drive sent Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg scrambling to the fence near the deepest part of left-center. The ball bounced off the fence and kept rolling, sending Clark home and Greene into third with his first Comerica Park triple since July 11 of last year.
Dingler greeted the next reliever, right-hander Nick Frasso, with a Statcast-projected 408-foot drive to left field that left no doubt for his 27th homer of the season and first since Aug. 6.
Greene added an RBI double in the eighth, leaving him a home run shy of a cycle in a 3-for-4, two-RBI game. He’s batting 13-for-36 with 13 RBIs since returning from the injured list on Sept. 1, including 12-for-23 with eight extra-base hits over his last six games.
The rally made a winner out of starting pitcher Framber Valdez (10-10), who held the Rockies to an unearned run on six hits over six innings -- his second consecutive outing without an earned run -- to clinch his sixth consecutive season with double-digit wins.