Riley Greene slump: What’s going on with Detroit Tigers outfielder
Mark and Freep Sports reporter Jared Ramsey analyze Riley Greene’s current slump and why the underperformance seems more unusual.
Colt Keith and Javier Báez added some flair to their first home runs of the season, which propelled the Detroit Tigers to a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros in the series finale.
Keith smashed an inside fastball to the right field second deck for a two-run home run in the second inning to answer a leadoff home run from Jeremy Peña and give the Tigers (19-12) an early lead. Báez followed it up with a two-out grand slam in the third inning to put the Tigers ahead 7-1, and they held on to win from there.
The early offense was enough for Jackson Jobe and the Tigers’ bullpen to hold off an attempted Astros comeback. Jobe battled through four innings before being chased by a two-run double from Jose Altuve in the fifth inning. The bullpen only gave up one run over the final five innings on a Victor Caratini solo home run off Tyler Holton despite consistent traffic on the bases for the Astros.
The Tigers won the series finale to avoid getting swept by Houston after dropping the first two games.
Jackson Jobe’s first start in 12 days
Jobe made his first start since April 18 after his last start was pushed back due to a rainout, prompting the Tigers to call up Keider Monteo for a spot start against the Orioles.
His first pitch in 12 days ended up in the seats.
Jobe threw a fastball down the middle to Peña on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning, and he turned on it for a leadoff home run and early Astros lead.
From there, he settled in and held the Astros scoreless from the second through fourth innings while the Tigers built a big lead.
Jobe ran into trouble in the fifth inning. He walked Jake Meyers on four pitches to start the inning, followed by a single from Peña. Altuve got around on a hanging breaking ball for a two-run double down the left field line, ending Jobe’s outing.
In four innings, Jobe gave up three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out four batters. He threw 77 pitches, including 44 for strikes, and induced eight swings and misses. He relied heavily on his slider, throwing it 33 times and picking up four swings and misses.
Brenan Hanifee replaced him and loaded the bases by giving up a single and issuing a walk. Hanifee got out of the inning by striking out Cam Smith looking with a 98 mph sinker and getting Brendan Rodgers to ground out. Hanifee threw a scoreless sixth, finishing his day with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
Holton gave up a solo home run in the seventh, but stranded two runners on base in the seventh. He picked up two outs in the eighth, before Tommy Kahnle came in for the game’s final four outs.
Early Tigers offense spoils a debut
The Astros called up right-hander AJ Blubaugh, the organization’s 10th-ranked prospect by MLB, to make his major league debut against the Tigers.
He started fine in the first inning, striking out two Tigers batters, but could not maintain that performance from there. Riley Greene, who finished 4-for-4 with four singles, led off with a hit, followed by Keith’s moonshot. In a 1-1 count, Keith turned on an inside fastball and hit it 406 feet with a 109.6 mph exit velocity.
Tomás Nido led off the third inning with a single. Kerry Carpenter then seemingly grounded into a double play, but Peña rifled the ball into right field from shortstop to give the Tigers runners at the corners. Zach McKinstry drove in Nido with a sacrifice fly, and then the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs on a Greene single and a Keith walk.
Báez fell behind in the next at-bat 0-2, but pulled a slider off the plate past Daikin Park’s short left-field wall for a grand slam to put the Tigers ahead by six runs.
Jared Ramsey covers sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
