DETROIT -- Spencer Torkelson and Ben Malgeri drew a pair of RBI walks and Hao-Yu Lee doubled and tripled to bookend a frenetic seven-run eighth inning, sending the Tigers to their third straight win with an 11-7 victory over the Rockies Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park.
The Tigers overcame a pair of three-run deficits, nullifying Hunter Goodman’s three-run homer in the third inning off Tigers starter Andrew Sears and then a trio of late runs off Detroit’s bullpen. Ezequiel Tovar’s eighth-inning solo homer off the base of the left-field foul pole sent the Rockies into the bottom of the eighth with a 7-4 lead, but the Tigers needed just seven pitches to rack up four consecutive hits off setup man Jaden Hill.
Back-to-back doubles from Lee and Gleyber Torres, followed by consecutive singles from Riley Greene and Eduardo Valencia brought two runners home and put the go-ahead run on base. Max Clark’s walk loaded the bases and brought in closer Jordan Romano to face Torkelson, who drew an automatic ball on a pitch timer violation on his way to a game-tying walk.
Romano’s ensuing walk to Malgeri put the Tigers in front, followed by an add-on run on a sacrifice fly from John Peck. Lee, batting for the second time in the inning, laced an opposite-field liner off the right-field wall beyond a scrambling Jordan Beck, sending two more runners home.
The Tigers sent 11 batters to the plate on a rally so furious that closer Kenley Jansen, who began warming quickly with the Tigers still trailing, didn’t have a save situation when he entered the game to pitch the ninth.
It marked the first time the Tigers overcame multiple deficits of three or more runs in a victory since Sept. 25, 2010, when they overcame two five-run innings for an 11-10 win over the Twins in 13 innings.