Riley Greene powers Detroit Tigers to 4-2 win over Tampa Bay Rays with two home runs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Riley Greene, the leadoff hitter for the Detroit Tigers, drew his MLB-leading 21st walk in the first inning. After that, he created damage in his second and fourth trips to the plate.

"Really big swings," manager A.J. Hinch said.

Greene hit a solo home run in the third inning and a two-run home run in the eighth inning for the first multi-homer game of his 216-game career, spanning three seasons. The 23-year-old has five homers in 24 games this season.

The Tigers — thanks to Greene — earned a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, the second of three games in the series at Tropicana Field. The powerful swings from Greene combined for 834 feet of home runs.

BETTS, SOTO, TUCKER... GREENE: Tigers' Riley Greene tops MLB in this key stat: 'Walks are freaking awesome'

"I'll go back to it over and over again," Greene said, repeating his approach. "A.J. preached to me for a couple of years now, get a good pitch to hit, and my main focus is to get a good pitch to hit."

Right-hander Kenta Maeda threw five scoreless innings, but the Rays — sparked by an old friend — punched with a big swing in the sixth inning. Isaac Paredes, who played for the Tigers in 2020-21, launched a two-run home run off right-handed reliever Alex Faedo to put the Rays ahead, 2-1.

The Tigers (14-10) didn't quit.

"It's a special team," Greene said. "We got a lot of guys in here that work super, super hard, and it pays off. We got the team chemistry. We got pitchers on the mound dealing for us. We got our bullpen really helping out. Special team, very special team."

In the eighth inning, the Tigers attacked left-handed reliever Colin Poche for three runs. Carson Kelly kickstarted the three-run inning by hitting a leadoff single, setting the table for Greene.

Greene, hitting .247 with a .908 OPS, destroyed Poche's first-pitch fastball with a 108.2 mph exit velocity for a 408-foot home run to right-center field. His two-run homer flipped the momentum and the scoreboard.

The Tigers took a 3-2 lead.

"He's going to hit more than he's going to walk," Hinch said, "but I love the zone discipline and getting a good pitch to hit and doing extensive damage. ... It's fun when he gets in the strike zone where he makes them come into the strike zone, and he gets paid for it."

Greene, who grew up in nearby Oviedo, Florida, before the Tigers selected him No. 5 overall in the 2019 draft, had family and friends in the stands, about 15 people. He showed off for his personal fan club with his first two-homer game.

"Grandparents were here, mom and dad, my cousin and her husband," Greene said. "It was pretty cool to be able to do that in front of them."

GOOD JAVY: Tigers' Javier Báez builds on stolen-base streak while gaining momentum on offense

But the Tigers weren't done, as Mark Canha crushed a down-and-in slider for a solo home run to left-center field.

His fifth homer put the Tigers ahead, 4-2.

Right-handed relievers Alex Lange and Jason Foley locked down the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Lange hasn't walked a batter — or allowed a run — in his past four appearances, while Foley picked up his seventh save in as many chances.

Third basemen Zach McKinstry and Buddy Kennedy, who each received pinch-hit opportunities, made key defensive plays at the hot corner in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make"Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

Kenta Maeda improves

Maeda struggled with inconsistent mechanics in his first four starts, but in his fifth start, he was dominant from start to finish against the Rays. He turned in a scoreless start for the first time this season, just one start after giving up six runs and failing to finish the third inning.

He allowed just three hits while working around three errors.

He struck out five batters.

"They came out pretty aggressive," Hinch said, "so once he read that they were going to swing a ton, the quality of the strikes were just as important as the number of strikes. And then he got them into swing mode, and then you saw him expand a little bit with the split and the slider."

MORE ABOUT HIM: Tigers' Kenta Maeda pinpoints pitching mechanics as reason for bad start to 2024

Maeda showcased great fastball command and the best version of his slider.

He threw all eight pitches for strikes in the first inning. He located his fastball throughout the outing. His fastball averaged 90.3 mph in his fifth start, up from his average of 89.3 mph in his first four starts.

"I've discussed my mechanics with (pitching coach Chris Fetter)," Maeda said in Japanese, interpreted by Daichi Sekizaki. "I cleaned up my mechanics. I think that resulted in my fastball, both command and velocity. Hopefully, I can build off that in the next one as well."

The first two batters of the game — Yandy Díaz and Palacios — reached safely on errors from the defense. Shortstop Javier Báez made a fielding error, then Kelly was called for catcher interference. Maeda avoided damage with a pop out and double play to end the first inning.

The third and final error from the Tigers defense occurred in the third inning, when José Caballero reached safely on a fielding error by second baseman Colt Keith. Although Caballero stole second base, Maeda didn't flinch as he sent down the next three batters to end the third.

He threw 59 of 88 pitches for strikes.

Maeda used seven different pitchers against the Rays: 30 sliders, 21 four-seam fastballs, 20 splitters, nine sinkers, four sweepers, three cutters and one curveball. He generated 12 whiffs on 47 swings with six sliders, three fastballs and three splitters.

He mixed in his sinker for the first time this season.

"I wanted to attack the inside part of the zone against right-handed hitters," Maeda said. "I've been relying on my slider, which usually tends to be on the away side. I pounded the zone with the sinker inside, and that was successful."

Riley Greene's first home run

In the third inning, Greene refused to chase a pair of down-and-away changeups before crushing his first of two home runs. He hammered Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot's two-strike slider to straightaway center field.

Greene hit the ball 426 feet with a 108 mph exit velocity.

HE'S BACK: Casey Mize had 'pain down left leg' before surgery. Now he's back, and better than ever

Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot limited the Tigers to one run through six innings. He allowed three hits and two walks with four strikeouts, throwing 80 pitches. Still, the Tigers made contact on their swings and hit the ball hard, a sign of a healthy approach.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

Next up: Rays

Matchup: Tigers (14-10) at Tampa Bay (12-13), series finale.

First pitch: 6:50 p.m. Wednesday; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Probable pitchers: Tigers — RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.44 ERA); Rays — LHP Tyler Alexander (1-0, 4.79).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Riley Greene's 2 homers power Detroit Tigers to 4-2 win at Rays