Riley Greene, Tigers wallop Nationals in doubleheader opener

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Jul 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — If Riley Greene is not named to the American League All-Star team, there needs to be a full-scale investigation.

Greene, after enjoying the most productive month of his career in June, christened July with a pair of three-run home runs to propel the Tigers to a 11-2 romp over the Washington Nationals in the first of two Wednesday at Nationals Park.

His first homer came in a six-run first inning against right-hander Trevor Williams, a 380-footer he hooked around the foul pole in right. The second came in the fourth off righty reliever Jackson Rutledge and it was a bomb.

He whacked an elevated splitter and sent it 411 feet over the wall in right-center. The ball left his bat at 110 mph.

They were homers Nos. 20 and 21 and upped his RBI total to 69. He’s now one of three Tigers under the age of 25 to hit at least 20 homers before the All-Star break. The others: Willie Horton and Matt Nokes.

It was his fourth multi-homer game this season.

After a rare two-day break following the rainout Tuesday, the Tigers came out with some controlled aggression against the soft-tossing Williams. Their patience at the plate not only forced him to throw 54 pitches to get the first three outs, it put them in position to do damage.

Eleven hitters came to the plate and banged out six hits including two three-run homers.

Opposite-field doubles by left-handed hitters Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry set the table and were also evidence of the Tigers’ patient approach. Instead of trying to pull the slower pitches and possibly rolling over and hitting ground balls to the pull side, they stayed back and served them into left field.

Those body blows helped set the table for the knockout swings, the first one by Greene and then Jake Rogers.

For Rogers, it was his first homer of the year, ending a stretch of 159 homerless plate appearances dating to Aug. 27, 2024.

McKinstry finished with four hits and Keith had three. Spencer Torkelson, whose 405-foot rocket to center was caught at the wall, had two hits, including his 18th homer.

The outpouring of runs helped ease the burden on what ended up being a straight bullpen game for the Tigers. Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long, who was expected to pitch bulk innings after opener Tyler Holton, was put on the 15-day IL before the game with neck stiffness.

Holton pitched two strong innings and gave way to lefty Brant Hurter, who has been working to get his mechanics back in order. He’d walked five and hit three batters in his previous three outings, not recording an out in 11 straight hitters.

Things were much crisper for him in this one. He struck out five in 2 2/3 innings with just one walk. He threw 53 pitches, 31 strikes.

He was charged with one run after CJ Abrams reached with a two-out infield single, advancing to second on a throwing error by second baseman Keith. He scored on a line drive single by James Wood.

Still, it was an encouraging outing.

Less so for right-hander Tyler Owens. Called up from Triple-A Toledo Wednesday morning to take Gipson-Long’s spot on the roster, he wasn’t able to finish the sixth inning. He walked three hitters, including pinch-hitter Josh Bell with the bases loaded.

Right-hander Dylan Smith got the final out in the sixth, stranding the bases loaded, and then put up zeros in the seventh, eighth and ninth.