Riley Greene made history on Friday night, homering twice in a wild eight-run ninth inning to carry the Detroit Tigers to a 9-1 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Angels.
Greene launched a solo homer to begin the top of the ninth and capped the frame with a three-run shot, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs in the ninth inning of a game. The last Tiger to homer twice in a single inning was Magglio Ordonez in 2007.
Colt Keith and Javier Báez also went deep during the ninth off Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who was tagged for six runs and six hits in his first outing in over a week. Jansen (0-1) entered with a spotless ERA before the disastrous appearance.
Tyler Holton (2-2) tossed a clean eighth inning to earn the win for Detroit, which improved to 21-12, the best mark in the American League.
Angels shortstop Zach Neto gave his team an early lead, launching Tarik Skubal’s first pitch over the wall for his fourth home run of the year. But that would be the only offense for Los Angeles, which dropped their seventh straight game and has now lost 15 of their last 19.
Detroit tied it 1-1 in the seventh on Trey Sweeney’s solo homer off reliever Ryan Johnson. Angels starter Jose Soriano gave a solid effort, allowing six hits and one run over six innings while striking out five.
Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, surrendered just four hits and one run over six innings, striking out eight and walking one.
Tensions rose in the third inning when Neto and Skubal exchanged words after a strikeout on a 99-mph fastball. Both benches emptied, but cooler heads prevailed, and no punches were thrown.
Key Moment
Travis d’Arnaud singled to open the fifth — the Angels’ final baserunner of the night. From that point, Skubal and relievers Chase Lee, Holton, and Tyler Owens retired the next 15 Angels in order, including eight via strikeout.
Key Stat
The Angels have gone 4,000 straight regular-season games with at least one hit, a streak dating back to being no-hit by Eric Milton of the Twins on Sept. 11, 1999 — the longest active run in MLB.
Up Next
Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty takes the mound Saturday against Angels righty Kyle Hendricks .
