The Detroit Tigers are struggling through a disappointing season. Before Saturday’s matinee game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Comerica Park, Detroit was 46-50 and in fourth place in the AL Central division.
But the Tigers have now won nine of their last 13 games after a thrilling comeback walk-off victory over the Dodgers, who lead the NL West.
Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning off Yohan RamÃrez to give Detroit an 11-9 victory. The Tigers rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the eighth inning to score five runs in the ninth inning to tie the score.
Detroit reliever Will Vest intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani and hit Teoscar Hernandez with a pitch to put the Dodgers in position to take the lead. But Freddie Freeman doubled to let Vest escape with a scoreless inning and set up Urshela’s heroics.
Ohtani hit his 200th home run in the fifth inning against Detroit starter Keider Montero. His solo shot into the right-field corner gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Ohtani went 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. He leads the National League with 29 homers, a .314 batting average and a 1.037 OPS so far this season.
No other Japanese-born player has hit 200 home runs in MLB history. Earlier this season, Ohtani passed Hideki Matsui, who was the previous home run leader among Japanese players with 175.
Urshela’s homer was one of four long balls for the Tigers on Saturday. Ryan Vilade, Andy Ibáñez and Colt Keith also hit deep. Keith, a rookie second baseman, also hit a two-run double in the second inning, giving him four RBI in a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Detroit jumped on Dodgers reliever Ricky Vanasco in the ninth, hitting three straight hits to lead off the inning and scoring two runs. Evan Phillips took over for Vanasco and got two outs, but a single by Carson Kelly and Keith’s home run — his ninth of the season — tied the game.
In the 10th, the Tigers’ automatic runner, Wenceel Pérez Vilade, bunted to third. RamÃrez threw four straight sliders (or sweepers) to Urshela, the fourth of which stuck in the middle of the plate and the nine-year veteran knocked it out of the park.
Trevor Thompson spoke with two of today’s heroes: Gio Urshela, who helped the Tigers to an 11-9 extra-inning win over the Dodgers with a two-run homerun, and Colt Keith, who tied the score with his own two-run homerun in the ninth inning!#RepDetroit photo.twitter.com/kIkhaFlvLs
— Bally Sport Detroit (@BallySportsDET) July 13, 2024
The Dodgers (56-40) are on something of a skid, having lost five of their last six games after Saturday’s result. That includes a three-game sweep in Philadelphia, in which the Phillies established themselves as the best team in the NL.
But despite losing nine of their last 14 games, Los Angeles still holds a commanding 7 1/2-game lead in the NL West until the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
