ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Detroit Tigers left-handed swinging designated hitter Riley Greene stole the show against the Rays in the 4-2 win on Tuesday night, April 23rd, at Tropicana Field. Greene blasted two home runs with exit velocities of 108 MPH that were 408 feet and 428 feet respectively.
Greene now has five home runs, 11 RBI, and an OPS of .908 in 81 at-bats this season. The 23-year-old normally plays the outfield, but the Tigers had former New York Met Mark Canha, Parker Meadows, and rookie Wenceel Perez in the outfield last night.
RILEY GREENE IS A BAD MAN. pic.twitter.com/ALmvOYOCX0
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 24, 2024
Greene hit his first home run off Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot in the third to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead. His second home run was against Rays reliever Colin Poche in the eighth and it allowed the Tigers to retake the lead 3-2. Canha added an insurance run with a solo shot against Poche in that same inning.
Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena (2020 AL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year), broke an 0-18 slide and singled in the sixth against Tigers reliever Alex Faedo. Later in the inning, Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes (Hermosillo, Mexico) hit his sixth home of the season to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
Script flipped. pic.twitter.com/nPoBPi5Wm2
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 24, 2024
Tigers starting pitcher Kenta Madea turned back the clock and had a vintage performance against the Rays with five scoreless innings and five strikeouts. Maeda gave up just three singles and worked around three errors from the Tigers. He entered the day with a 7.36 ERA and this was his best start of the season. His ERA is now lowered to 5.96.
Tigers Rays pregame from yesterday: Kenta Maeda warming up before tossing 5 scoreless innings. #RepDetroit #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/jsBwmcOHch
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) April 24, 2024
On the Rays side, Ryan Pepiot delivered his fifth quality start for Tampa Bay, pitching six innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. Pepiot’s numbers on the season are 28.2 innings, 31 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.77.
Riley Greene spoke to the reporters after the game about his home runs and was happy to do it in front of his family. Green grew up in Oviedo, Florida and was drafted fifth overall by the Tigers in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Oviedo High School.
“AJ preached me for a couple years now, get a good pitch to hit, and my main focus is to get a good pitch to hit,” Green told reporters. “It’s a special team.. we got a lot of guys in here that work super hard and it pays off.”
Tigers manager AJ Hinch has the Tigers off to a 14-10 start, while the Rays are 12-13 and in last place in the loaded AL East.
AL East Standings at the Trop – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Paredes spoke to the media after the game about his home run & Rays struggles.
“It was a moment I was trying to get on base or looking for a way to drive in a run,” Paredes on the home run.
“Everyone in here has a lot of talent,” he added. “We just have to keep working on things and hopefully we get it turned around.”
“I felt pretty good pretty normal, I don’t feel great up there, but I don’t feel bad. I’m just getting a little confused up still there with some pitches, but I just have to remember it’s going to take some time and I have full confidence”
Paredes, 25, leads the Rays with six home runs, 16 RBI and an OPS of .873 in 84 at-bats this season.
Isaac Paredes is one-of-two Rays players, who are Mexico natives. Jonathan Aranda is the second, from Tijuana, Mexico – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks provided an update on his nerve injury, which landed him on the 15-day IL on Friday, April 19th.
“It felt like my hand was asleep, but that someone forced me to do it,” Fairbanks told reporters.
“It’s something that’s manageable I think, but it’s going to take the right cocktail to throw at it and that’s going to take some time.”
The Tigers will look for the sweep on Wednesday, April 24rd with Jack Flaherty on the mound against Rays’ Shawn Armstrong at 6:50 p.m. EST.
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William Coppola
April 24, 2024 at 9:09 pm
Excellent piece with good observations. You covered everything in an informative and concise manner. It flowed and was a good read. Nice job!