In the fifth inning on Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani Hit the 200th home run of his MLB career. This milestone homer put the Dodgers ahead of the Detroit Tigers on the scoreboard.
It took a while, but the Tigers worked some home run magic of their own, scoring five runs in the ninth inning to tie the score, including a spectacular home run by rookie Colt Keith to tie the game.
The Tigers then defeated the Dodgers 11–9 in 10 innings in the second game of the series played in front of 40,196 fans at Comerica Park. Gio Urshela hit a walk-off two-run home run off right-handed reliever Yohan Ramirez to complete the comeback victory.
“I don’t know how to properly comment on that game, except to say it was an amazing feeling to see the guys out there and happy. What a comeback,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
The Tigers (46-50) — who are winners of nine of their last 12 games — have one more game until the All-Star break.
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The ninth inning began with three consecutive hits from right-handed reliever Ricky Vanasco: a single from Wencesl Perez, a single from Justin-Henry Malloy, and a double from Matt Vierling. Vierling’s double scored two runs and cut the score to 9–6 for the Tigers.
Riley Greene grounded out and Jake Rogers struck out, putting the Tigers down to their final out. But Carson Kelly kept the Tigers alive with an RBI single off right-handed reliever Evan Phillips, making the score 9–7.
Then, Keith – a 22-year-old playing the 85th game of his MLB career – turned Phillips’ first pitch, an up-and-in cutter, into right field for a two-run home run. His ninth homer of the season tied the game at 9-9.
Keith has hit five home runs in the last 10 games.
“That’s one of the coolest moments ever,” Keith said. “Playing the Dodgers, obviously we have a billion-dollar player, and we were able to beat them with the guys here. That was fun.”
The Tigers scored their first two runs on Keith’s two-run double in the second inning against left-hander Justin Wrobleski. Keith went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, a walk and a strikeout.
But Keith’s game didn’t end there. In the bottom of the 10th he turned a spectacular double play (with shortstop Jack McKinstry) with the bases loaded, completing the game after Will West used his slider to get a ground ball from Freddie Freeman.
“I couldn’t believe Jack got to that ball,” Keith said. “Right before the game started, he said, if he has it, I’ll get to second. I told him I’ll get there. It worked out perfect. Bases loaded, being able to turn a double play and scoring off of that, it was one of the coolest moments I’ve ever had.”
In the 10th inning, the Tigers advanced their free runner from second base to third base on Pérez’s sacrifice bunt, and although Urshela needed only a deep fly ball, he crossed the fence in left-center field for a walk-off home run.
He hits a middle-middle sweeper off Ramirez.
“Amazing,” Urshela said. “Today we battled the whole game. Going down five in the ninth — amazing. The whole lineup did something to win this game. Colt, huge homer.”
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Shohei Ohtani’s Milestone
For the second day in a row, a large number of Dodgers fans were in attendance.
As a result, there were plenty of cheers when Ohtani blasted a middle-middle changeup off right-hander Keyder Montero for a solo home run in the fifth inning, making the score 3-2.
“I express my gratitude to him,” Hinch said, “but I didn’t like his homer.”
Montero, 24, gave up five runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings and had four strikeouts, throwing 92 pitches. He has a 5.47 ERA in five games in his MLB career and will remain in the starting rotation after the All-Star break.
“I was just trying to give my 100%,” Montero said in Spanish through team interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I say that every time. I know it wasn’t my best performance ever, but I wanted to compete with everything I had at that moment.”
Ohtani also put the Dodgers ahead 1-0 in the first inning when he scored from third base after opening the game with a triple off Montero’s middle-away changeup to right field.
After Montero, the Dodgers scored one run off left-handed reliever Joey Wentz, two runs off right-handed reliever Alex Faedo, and one run off left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin.
Ohtani scored for the third and final time in the eighth inning, increasing the Dodgers’ lead to 9-4 on Freeman’s sacrifice fly. Before crossing home plate, he walked on five pitches, stole second base and reached third base on Teoscar Hernandez’s single. He finished just one double short of the cycle.
Ohtani has 29 homers and 23 steals in 93 games.
“I think he hits three different spots in the order because he’s up there every inning, it seems like,” Hinch said. “He’s a special player and to be doing that under the biggest spotlight in the spotlight is pretty incredible.”
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Ryan Vilade’s Milestone
A memorable moment came in the fifth inning, when Ryan Vilade hit the first home run of his MLB career. He tagged a cutter from Wroblewski in the bottom of the strike zone and blasted a 389-foot solo home run to left-center field.
His first homer occurred in his ninth MLB game.
“I didn’t really feel it,” Vilade said. “It was one of those swings. It was a once in a lifetime swing. I can’t really explain it. It was crazy. I’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time.”
The next batter, Andy Ibanez, hit a solo home run on a middle-in slider to left field. With the homer, Ibanez continued his success against left-handed pitchers.
Two consecutive solo homers made the Tigers up 5–4 after five innings, but the Dodgers responded by scoring four runs against three relievers in the next three innings.
Contact Ivan Petzold epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @ivanpetzold,
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