Tigers turn an early edge into a 9-2 runaway over Nationals with three homers and a five-run fifth

The first inning gave Detroit the script

Detroit did not need to spend the night searching for momentum. Hao-Yu Lee supplied it almost immediately with a ground-rule double that scored Gleyber Torres, and the inning kept moving when Eduardo Valencia singled to left and Lee came home on a fielding error charged to James Wood. Those two runs were modest on the scoreboard, but they changed the shape of the night. Washington was behind before it had any offensive footing, and Detroit never gave that advantage back.

That early cushion became a sturdier lead in the fourth. Javier Báez drove a 426-foot homer to left with Dillon Dingler aboard, extending the margin to 4-0 and giving Detroit another clean, efficient scoring burst. It was the kind of swing that fit the Tigers' evening: not isolated, not desperate, just part of a lineup that kept handing the next hitter a useful situation. Dingler's two runs scored were a quiet but important thread through the middle innings, and Báez added a walk on top of his two-run shot.

Then came the inning that ended any real suspense. Detroit's five-run fifth was built in two swings, but those swings carried weight because the Tigers had already been stacking traffic. Ben Malgeri launched a three-run homer to left, bringing home Riley Greene and Valencia, and Spencer Torkelson followed later in the inning with a two-run homer that scored Dingler. By the time that burst was over, Detroit had reached 9-0. The final totals told the same story as the inning itself: 12 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 27 total bases.

Seven quiet innings from the mound

While the Tigers were adding on, their pitching staff gave Washington almost nothing to work with for most of the game. River Ryan covered the first three innings without allowing a run, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out three. Keider Montero followed with four scoreless innings of his own, allowing only one hit and one walk and striking out five. Through seven innings, Detroit had limited the Nationals to three hits and two walks, and Washington still had not cracked the scoreboard.

The Nationals finally found a loud swing in the eighth, when Yohandy Morales homered to right and brought James Wood home with him. Morales drove in both Washington runs in his only at-bat, and Jacob Young chipped in two of the club's five hits. But that rally arrived far too late to alter the game's direction. Washington finished with one homer, one double, a .156 team average and 12 runners left on base, numbers that describe an offense that rarely put consecutive problems in front of Detroit's pitchers.

Drew Sommers was the only Tigers pitcher touched for runs, and Beau Brieske closed the ninth with a clean inning. Across the full game, Detroit's staff struck out 11, walked two and held Washington to nine total bases. In a sport that often turns on one bad inning, the Tigers' pitchers made sure the Nationals never got enough chances to build one of their own.

Our take: the gap was in the accumulation

Our take: this was not only a story about three home runs. It was a story about everything Detroit added around them. The Tigers also drew four walks and collected six doubles, which meant their biggest swings came with pressure already established. Washington's pitchers faced 39 batters and allowed 27 total bases in eight innings. The Nationals never created comparable strain. They managed five hits, two walks and nine total bases, and their only scoring play was Morales' eighth-inning homer.

For Washington, the clearest place to improve is damage control. The first inning included an error that helped Detroit score, and the heaviest scoring later came on extra-base hits: Báez in the fourth, Malgeri and Torkelson in the fifth. DJ Herz and Luis Perales combined to allow nine runs on 10 hits and four walks in six innings, so too many Detroit rallies were decided by hard contact rather than being forced into a longer grind. Offensively, a cleaner night earlier in counts or deeper into at-bats would help for the same reason: 11 strikeouts and a .206 on-base percentage left very little room for pressure to build, even though the Nationals did work 126 pitches and left 12 men aboard.

Detroit, for its part, can still look at the details and see room to tighten. The Tigers left 14 runners on base, and the bullpen gave away the shutout in the eighth. Even so, that is nitpicking around a convincing win. Lee and Valencia drove the opening innings, Dingler kept showing up on base when scoring chances formed, and the power bats finished the work. On this night at Comerica Park, Detroit did not just outslug Washington. It kept the game tilted from the first inning on and made the final score feel earned long before the ninth.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Lee hit a ground rule double, Torres scored.

2. 1st Inning

   Valencia singled to left, Lee scored on fielding error by left fielder Wood.

3. 4th Inning

   Báez homered to left (426 feet), Dingler scored.

4. 5th Inning

   Malgeri homered to left (375 feet), Greene scored and Valencia scored.

5. 5th Inning

   Torkelson homered to left (380 feet), Dingler scored.

6. 8th Inning

   Morales homered to right (349 feet), Wood scored.