Tigers pull away in 6-run 9th, avoid sweep by Rays

Wenceel Perez belted a two-run homer and drove in three runs and Parker Meadows hit a three-run blast Sunday to give the Detroit Tigers a 9-3 victory over the host Tampa Bay Rays.
Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene each scored twice for the Tigers, who avoided losing more than three consecutive games for the first time since dropping five straight July 28-Aug. 2, 2024.
Tigers starter Casey Mize left the game with an apparent injury after giving up a leadoff single in the sixth inning. Mize allowed six hits and one run and struck out five. Tyler Holton (3-3) and four other Detroit relievers combined to hold Tampa Bay to three hits over the final four innings.
Dillon Dingler gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the second when his single to right field scored Greene.
Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero tied the game in the fourth with his 379-foot homer to left field. It was his team-leading 19th blast of the season, the most by a Rays player before the All-Star break since Brandon Lowe hit 21 in 2021.
In the seventh, Perez snapped a 1-1 tie with his sixth home run of the year to center field, scoring Torkelson from first base.
Before an 18-minute rain delay in Detroit’s six-run ninth, Greene scored off a double by Torkelson, who later came home on a single by Perez. Meadows followed with his homer that scored Perez and Dingler. After the delay, Javier Baez came home on a sacrifice fly by Zach McKinstry.
The Rays loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and scored a pair on a single by Taylor Walls.
Rays starter Zach Littell struck out five and allowed one run on four hits over five innings. Reliever Garrett Cleavinger (0-3) struck out three but gave up the homer to Perez. Forrest Whitley replaced Eric Orze at the start of the ninth and allowed six runs without recording an out.