ST. LOUIS -- With a bullpen game on tap for the rubber game of their three-game series against the Cardinals on Wednesday, the Tigers knew it would take a team effort to pull out their fifth series win out of their past six.
And just as they have all season, they got it.
A combination of Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson’s offense, strong defense and a stellar pitching effort added up to a 5-1 win at Busch Stadium. The Tigers improved their record to 33-17 and now have the best record in MLB through 50 games for the first time since 2006.
“The reality is every day is a new test, that every day you have to come ready to play, and we do so,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “After the first game here [an 11-4 loss on Monday], obviously, the most important game of the year was the next day. We get that win and then come today, chance to win a series, we do it. And we needed a lot of guys to do well for the last two days.”
Starter Brant Hurter set the tone with three scoreless innings. He struck out two and allowed one hit and one walk.
Hurter pitched around a leadoff walk to Iván Herrera, followed by a bunt hit by Alec Burleson to lead off the second. Third baseman Zach McKinstry saved a potential run by cleanly fielding a hard-hit grounder that left Jordan Walker’s bat at 105.5 mph and throwing to second for a forceout to end the inning.
Hurter retired the other nine batters he faced, bookending the stint by striking out Masyn Winn to start the first and fanning Brendan Donovan to end the third.
Chase Lee followed and did not allow a hit, facing the minimum in his two innings to earn his first career Major League win.
“It started with Brant. [He] went three, and I don't know what was expected of him, but that was definitely really big for us, and then just kind of passing that along,” Lee said. “We took a lot of zeros, and thankfully, the offense scored early and gave us a chance to not have to be perfect.”
Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee and Tyler Holton bridged the gap to Beau Brieske, who closed it out with two scoreless innings.
“Hats off to the bullpen,” Hinch said. “The bullpen guys coming in, and even if the first batter wasn't perfect, they found a way to keep getting outs and keep handing the ball to the next guy where he was supposed to.”
Just as they have for most of the season, Greene and Torkelson sparked the offense by leading off the second with back-to-back singles. Greene scored on a Colt Keith sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
The duo struck again in the fourth. Greene started a two-out rally with a walk and scored on Torkelson’s double off the right-field wall that just eluded Walker’s glove to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
“I feel like yesterday, I kind of lost my approach a little bit,” Torkelson said. “Today, my only goal was stick to the basics, trust it and let that pay off, and it did today.”
Greene and Torkelson were front and center again as the Tigers tacked on in the sixth. Both drew walks, and Greene scored on a Dillon Dingler hit. Torkelson tried to score when Dingler got hung up between first and second, but he was thrown out at home.
Torkelson walked and scored on a Trey Sweeney sacrifice fly, and Javier Báez’s single scored Keith in the eighth. Torkelson and Greene combined for three hits and four walks and scored four of the Tigers’ five runs.
“We’ve just been grinding day by day, just staying really present, sticking to our plan, you know, being prepared and executing,” Torkelson said. “I think the execution has been done at a really high level.”
The Tigers just completed a stretch of 16 of 22 on the road during which they went 15-7. Detroit (33-17) has the best record in baseball. The last two times the Tigers won at least 33 out of their first 50 games, they also won the American League pennant (1984 and 2006).
Detroit won the most recent three-game series using an opener and a bullpen game in the finale against the Cardinals, who have won 13 of their past 17.
But the Tigers are only focused on the next game, which is at home on Thursday against Cleveland, the team that ended Detroit's fairytale season in the 2024 American League Division Series.
“We're not naive as to what is next on the schedule, but we had no time to really think about it until we get to today,” Hinch said. “So, we'd like to soak in this win, and then we'll get our information and start preparing for tomorrow. It's a happy flight going home, and a fun, good team coming in to play against us.”