Detroit Tigers win third straight series behind offensive blasts

· Yahoo Sports

In his 63rd game, Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith finally got onto the home run board.

And the rest of his teammates joined the hit parade as the Tigers set a season-high in home runs.

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With his first home run of the season, Keith’s two-run home run in the sixth inning helped power an 11-0 win over the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park on Thursday, June 11. The win secured a series win for the Tigers, their third of the month as Detroit improved to 7-2 in June and 29-40 overall

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The Tigers also got a big swing from first baseman Spencer Torkelson, whose two-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead and Torkelson his 10th home run of the year. He’s the second Tigers batter to reach 10 home runs this season, behind Dillon Dingler’s team-leading 16 home runs.

Second baseman Gleyber Torres added an opposite-field, solo home run in the fifth inning, while left fielder Riley Greene also hit an opposite-field solo home run in the seventh to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.

The home runs kept coming after Minnesota inserted catcher Alex Jackson as a position-player pitcher in the eighth inning, with center fielder Zach McKinstry hitting a leadoff home run for his second of the season and pinch-hitter Wenceel Pérez notching his seventh of the season later in the inning.

The Tigers set a season high for home runs in a single game with six, breaking their previous high of five in their 10-9 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on June 1. It was Detroit's fifth game this season with at least four home runs as a team, with three of those games coming in June.

Starter Keider Montero had another effective outing, allowing four hits and no runs over 6⅓ innings. It was the third time this season that he has pitched into the seventh inning, helping the Tigers cruise to a win on Thursday.

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At the plate

Entering the game, Keith was just one of three players in MLB with at least 190 plate appearances and no home runs on the season. (The others: Milwaukee’s Luis Rengifo and Washington’s Nasim Nuñez.) But with double-digit home runs in each of the past two seasons for Keith, his power outage through the first half had been a big part of Detroit's offensive woes.

And with both Keith and the Tigers making hard contact on Thursday, Detroit's bats stayed scorching through their June hot streak.

Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the first inning with a double off the top of the left field wall, bouncing over the glove of left fielder Trevor Larnach and onto the wall padding before ending up back on the field. Torres’ lineout to right field advanced McGonigle to third base and Greene’s sacrifice fly to center then scored McGonigle to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

Tigers designated hitter Dillon Dingler didn't homer Thursday, but continued his mashing with a one-out, line drive double in the fourth inning that registered 104.8 mph off the bat. His first-inning single was hit slightly harder, according to Statcast, at 104.9 mph, as Dingler has registered 10 batted balls this season of at least 105 mph of exit velocity. He finished 3-for-5.

Two batters later, Keith drove him in with a hard single, and Torkelson immediately followed that with his lead-extending home run.

Keith's sixth-inning home run wasn't the game-breaking one, as the Tigers already had a 5-0 lead before it happened. But if it catalyzes a major power source in Detroit's lineup, it may end up the biggest hit of a day filled with giant swings.

On the mound

Montero pitched efficiently through the first four innings, allowing no runs on three soft hits while striking four and not walking anyone.

He walked his first batter in the fifth inning, a leadoff pass for catcher Victor Caratini, but that was the only baserunner he allowed in the inning as a drive to left-center field from right fielder Austin Martin was run down by McKinstry.

Montero’s day continued with a 1-2-3 sixth inning, completed when a swinging bunt from designated hitter Josh Bell led to an athletic spinning play and laser-beam throw from catcher Jake Rogers. Bell was initially called safe on the play, but the call was reversed after the Tigers challenged, with the fielders walking off the field before the umpires officially reversed the call.

Montero got 10 of his 20 outs via the fly ball, which plays into the season-long trend the Tigers have seen from their righty. Montero sported a team-high 52.5% fly ball percentage entering Thursday’s game as he has drastically increased his fly ball percentage while simultaneously lowering his home run rate, from 1.59 per nine innings in 2025 to 1.09 per nine in 2026 (MLB average is 1.12).

Montero got a standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd as he exited the game, with his third start this season of at least six scoreless innings.

Next up: On the road again

The Tigers head south to face the defending American League Central champion Cleveland Guardians for a three-game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland beginngin Friday (7:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet).

Tigers righty Jack Flaherty (1-7, 5.31 ERA) is set to pitch against Guardians righty Tanner Bibee (1-7 4.09 ERA).

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers trounce Minnesota Twins with home run parade

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