Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene became the first player in Major League Baseball history to homer twice in the ninth inning of a single game on Friday night, accomplishing the feat as part of a 9-1 victory against the Los Angeles Angels (box score).
Greene’s initial home run happened to be a pivotal one. He led off the ninth with a solo shot off Angels closer Kenley Jansen, breaking a 1-1 tie and opening the floodgates. The Tigers would receive home runs from two other batters, Colt Keith and Javier Báez, which padded Detroit’s lead and chased Jansen from the game. By the time Greene came to the plate again, the Tigers were up by a 6-1 margin and the Angels had inserted lefty reliever Jake Eder.
That didn’t prevent Greene from hopping the fence again — this time for three runs. Take a look:
“Yeah, I just found that out — pretty cool,” Greene told reporters afterward. “But the game is over. We got to show up tomorrow and try to win another baseball game.”
Greene, 24, entered Friday’s contest hitting .262/.313/.451 (119 OPS+) with six home runs, 16 runs batted in, and 32 more strikeouts than walks in his first 31 games. Predictably, his exploits against the Angels have improved those marks: he’s now batting .276/.324/.504 with eight home runs and 20 runs batted in.
In all, the Tigers scored nine consecutive unanswered runs. Meanwhile, ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal notched another quality start, his fourth in his last five tries. Skubal held the Angels to one run on four hits and no walks across six innings. He struck out eight batters.
The Tigers’ victory improved their record to 21-12, ensuring they’ll maintain a hold on first place in the American League Central into next week.
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