Riley Greene breaks out of hitting lull as Tigers overpower Diamondbacks

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Jul 29, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — This is why it’s wise not to sweat Riley Greene’s hitting lulls. He’s proven time and time again that they are temporary. He’s always one or two good swings from breaking out of them.

Just like Tuesday night.

He entered the game on a 6 for 40 skid since the All-Star break. After grounding out in the first inning, he produced two doubles, his 26th home run and three RBI, sending the Tigers to their third straight win, 12-2, over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Comerica Park.

The Tigers (63-46) blew open a 2-2 game with a home run barrage in the fifth inning against Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.

Gleyber Torres started it, breaking the tie with his second opposite-field home run in three games. Greene’s homer, a 420-foot rainbow into the right field seats, came after a single by Kerry Carpenter.

The two-run shot increased Greene’s career-high RBI total to 83.

With two outs, Zach McKinstry launched a two-strike changeup into the right-field seats, his ninth homer and another two-run shot.

When the dust settled, the Tigers had sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored six times, rendering another wobbly start by Casey Mize irrelevant.

It’s been a rough stretch for Mize. After an All-Star first half, he endured his third straight turbulent start. For just the second time in his career, he didn’t survive the second inning.

He’d had a disjointed week. He missed a full day between starts getting treatment on his sore right knee, which is why this start was pushed back a day. Whether the knee was a factor or not, he never looked in sync.

It took him 59 pitches to record five outs. He walked three, allowed three hits and did well to escape with just two runs on his ledger.

Mize has been tagged with 11 earned runs in his last 8 2/3 innings, raising his ERA from 2.63 to 3.43.

The Tigers, though, took him off the hook in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Greene hooked a double into the right-field corner and with one out Perez singled him to third.

After McKinstry struck out, Perez stole second without a throw. That proved useful. Dillon Dingler, with two strikes, lined a single to center, scoring Greene and Perez to tie the game.

And the Tigers kept on hitting.

Carpenter, in just his second game back off the injured list, had two doubles and a single. He doubled (off lefty reliever Brandyn Garcia) and scored on Greene’s double (and 84th RBI) in the sixth.

Perez had a single, double, triple, two stolen bases and an RBI. McKinstry ended up with three RBI. Andy Ibanez came off the bench and delivered an RBI single off a lefty and a double off a righty.

But save a game ball for lefty Brant Hurter. It was a very different ballgame when he took over for Mize in the second inning. He not only stranded two runners in the second, he then hung three straight zeros on the scoreboard, allowing one infield hit with three strikeouts.

And the one hit he allowed, by Ketel Marte, Hurter picked him off trying to steal third.

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