Stones of the Yarra Valley

Four Tigers blast home runs in 12-1 win vs Yankees in spring training

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TAMPA, FL – The Detroit Tigers won, 12-1, over the New York Yankees on Sunday, March 15, at George M. Steinbrenner Field in spring training.

Detroit is 6-11 with four ties in Grapefruit League play.

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What happened

The Tigers hit three home runs off right-hander Luis Gil in the first three innings.

All three came from key players.

In the first, Spencer Torkelson hit a 396-foot three-run home run with a 104.8 mph exit velocity. In the second, Matt Vierling hit a 358-foot two-run home run with a 92.5 mph exit velocity. In the third, Riley Greene hit a 438-foot solo home run with a 110.8 mph exit velocity.

The three homers combined for 1,102 feet.

Facing Gil, Torkelson pulled a middle-middle changeup, Vierling golfed a middle-in slider and Greene destroyed a middle-in fastball. The three homers made it 7-0, Tigers, after three innings.

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In the seventh inning, Jordan Yost – a 19-year-old shortstop drafted by the Tigers with the No. 24 overall pick in 2025 –appeared in his first MLB spring training game.

He put the Tigers ahead, 11-0, with a grand slam off right-handed reliever Zach Messinger.

Yost hasn't made his regular-season professional debut yet.

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Starting off

Left-hander Framber Valdez started for the Tigers.

The 32-year-old fired five scoreless innings on 63 pitches in his second-to-last start of spring training. He gave up four hits but didn't issue any walks while striking out three batters.

Valdez is expected to start again Saturday in the Grapefruit League finale against the Yankees, which lines him up for March 27 against the San Diego Padres in the regular season.

In Sunday's start, three of the four hits allowed by Valdez were singles.

The hits: Randal Grichuk (single) in the first inning, Paul DeJong (double) and Max Schuemann (single) in the second inning and Schuemann (single) in the fifth inning.

Valdez showcased his skill as an elite ground-ball artist by erasing those baserunners with a lineout and flyout in the first, a double-play groundout in the second and back-to-back groundouts in the fifth.

His 59.4% ground-ball rate ranked in the 97th percentile last season.

Facing the Yankees, Valdez generated nine whiffs on 30 swings for a 30% whiff rate with six sinkers, two curveballs and one changeup. His sinker averaged 94.1 mph.

He owns a 0.75 ERA over 12 innings in three spring starts.

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At the plate

The four home runs were the big moments.

But Javier Báez continued his above-average performance this spring with a single and a double in three trips to the plate, including an RBI double off Gil's changeup for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

He is hitting .318 with an .818 OPS in nine games.

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Meanwhile, Vierling is hitting .343 (12-for-35) with two home runs, two walks and four strikeouts in 12 games, registering a 1.064 OPS. He has made four starts in center field and four starts in right field, along with limited left-field and first-base reps.

Torkelson is hitting .179 with a .564 OPS in 11 games, while Greene is hitting .222 with an .819 OPS in 11 games.

On the mound

After Valdez, the Tigers turned to right-hander Kyle Finnegan, right-hander Kenley Jansen and left-hander Sean Guenther before letting right-hander Drew Anderson finish the game.

Anderson entered with one out in the eighth inning and recorded the final five outs, but not before the Yankees scored one run in the ninth – marking the first run scored against him in his five appearances this spring, spanning 12⅔ innings.

Finnegan and Jansen combined to retire six batters in a row, including three with strikeouts. Guenther put two runners on base, but the inherited runners created a much-needed situation for Anderson, who remains in transition from starter to reliever.

He passed that test by stranding both runners in the eighth.

But he fell apart in the ninth.

Three stars

1. Yost, 2. Valdez, 3. Greene.

Next up

Monday (1:05 p.m.) vs. Philadelphia Phillies in Lakeland.

Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers blast four HRs in 12-1 win over New York Yankees

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