DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers have their first win streak in 20 days.
Andy Ibáñez doubled and homered in his return to the big leagues, and Troy Melton pitched seven shutout innings as the Tigers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5–1 on Monday night at Comerica Park.
The Tigers (62-46) have now won two in a row after losing 12 of 13. The last time the Tigers won consecutive games was July 4-8. Monday’s well-played win over the Diamondbacks (51-56) came at the end of a tumultuous day in which two key players went on the injured list and the Tigers acquired a new starting pitcher.
Ibáñez, who was promoted amid the flurry of moves, had spent the last seven weeks with Triple-A Toledo, tweaking his swing and preparing for a return to the big leagues. He delivered quickly against Arizona starter and former Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, reprising his role as a nemesis of southpaws.
Ibáñez led off the second inning by smacking a double to left and then scored on Javier Báez’s RBI single. He hit a solo homer 391 feet to left field to lead off the fourth.
“I told him before the game, don’t try to make up for lost time in one game,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “And if that was his way of settling in — double, homer… I know it means a lot to him. It crushed him to be sent down to Triple-A. He went down, did his work and waited for his next opportunity. His immediate impact just lifts the entire team.”
Melton struck out five without a walk over seven scoreless innings, allowing only five singles in just his second career start and his first in Detroit.
“He was on the attack from the get-go,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “He handled contact or controlled contact. It was just a really impressive night by someone making his first start at this field and getting his first win. I think it’s the first time in his pro career he’s pitched seven innings, and to do it in the big leagues, and finish it out as strongly as he did, was really big for him and for our team.”
The Tigers opened the scoring in the first inning thanks to a pop-up from Spencer Torkelson that dropped between shortstop Geraldo Perdomo and charging left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Jahmai Jones scored from first when the throw home hit him in the back of the head.
Matt Vierling made it 4–0 in the fourth with a double off the wall in center. Rodriguez retired the next five batters after that, including four straight via strikeout, but Dillon Dingler tacked on another run with a solo shot to left. Dingler went 3-for-3 against Rodriguez, with two soft singles and the big blast.
“(Rodriguez) didn’t throw a lot of first-pitch strikes, and we weren’t up there hacking, trying to make something happen. We let the game come to us a little bit,” Hinch said. “And then when he came in the strike zone, we punished him a bit. Then he settled in, changed his usage and got a few strikeouts. But we were on the attack. We didn’t just swing to swing. There was a purpose, and we were looking for stuff.
“Especially in the middle to bottom of the order, it’s nice to see Ibáñez and Dingler have back-to-back huge games. That’s how you break through and tack on runs. Matt Vierling had a really good two-out hit after grounding into a double play, and then the Dingler homer to separate us even further. It made for a comfortable win, but it took a lot of guys having important at-bats.”
Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle lost the shutout when he gave up a solo homer to Alek Thomas in the eighth.
Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez left the game in the ninth inning after being hit in the right hand by a 96 mph fastball from Will Vest.
Suárez is one of the top bats on the trade market ahead of the July 31 deadline and has been linked to several teams, including the Tigers.
Up next: The Tigers and Diamondbacks meet again on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.
Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (10-6, 4.76 ERA) will face Tigers righty Casey Mize (9-4, 3.40).
Mize’s start was pushed back one day after he experienced some mild stiffness in his knee that affected his between-start routine. Mize has struggled in his last two starts, one before and one after the All-Star break.
Pfaadt (pronounced like “fought”) is in his third season in the Arizona rotation. This will be his first start at Comerica Park and his first start against the Tigers.
