Parker Meadows keeps crushing, Matt Manning crumbles in Detroit Tigers’ 16-7 win vs. Braves

NORTH PORT, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Atlanta Braves, 16-7, on Saturday at CoolToday Park.

The Tigers are 9-7 in Grapefruit League play.

What happened

Right-hander Matt Manning started for the third time in spring training. The 25-year-old, who now has a 14.21 ERA, allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts across three innings.

“I’ve had some bad innings this spring, and I’ve had some really good innings this spring,” Manning said. “It’s just stacking as many good innings as I can and keep working hard every single day to get better and get stronger.”

Trailing 5-0, Parker Meadows injected life into the Tigers’ offense against right-handed reliever Raisel Iglesias. He hammered Igleseias’ 93 mph fastball for a solo home run to right field.

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The ball hit an office building.

“I was just hunting fastball in the zone,” Meadows said. “Luckily, I got some good pitches to hit and took advantage of them.”

Austin Meadows, Parker’s older brother, put the Tigers ahead 6-5 in the sixth inning with a two-run single through the right side of the infield against left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge. The Braves then replaced Luetge with lefty Jake McSteen.

The left-on-left matchup didn’t faze Austin’s younger brother.

Parker extended the lead to 8-5 with a two-run home run to right field, his second of the game.

Meadows, only 23, started in center and finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs. He hasn’t played above Double-A Erie but continues to impress in camp, posting a .346 batting average with four home runs in 12 games.

“Honestly, I’m not thinking about that at all right now,” Meadows said about the Opening Day roster. “I’m just going out there, playing my game and supporting all my teammates. I’m just out there having fun. Whatever happens, happens.”

It’s too soon to expect the younger Meadows on the Opening Day roster.

“He’s getting a ton of experience,” Hinch said. “He’s made great strides over the last 12 months. … Right now, the best thing that we can do for him is to continue to expose him to more and more challenges and let him know he can stand on his own two feet against names he recognizes.”

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Starting off

Manning worked around a pair of singles in the first inning, thanks to strikeouts against Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna, but fell apart with two outs in the second inning when he walked back-to-back batters.

All of the damage from the Braves occurred with two outs.

“He didn’t get away with some of the mistakes,” Hinch said. “We’ll continue to inch forward and try to get him more and more success that comes with more and more volume. He wasn’t as pitch-efficient as he could have been, and as the innings went on, he didn’t throw a ton of fastballs. I think his mix is going to have to get a little bit better as we get closer (to the season).”

After the walks, Ozzie Albies took him deep to right to give the Braves a 3-0 lead.

“Curveball, I missed up a few times,” Manning said. “I threw some good ones, just a bad location on the Albies home run. It was supposed to be up, and I pulled it down into that hot zone for him.”

In the third inning, Manning quickly recorded the first two outs before the Braves took a 5-0 advantage. The next three batters were responsible for three hits and two runs: Ozuna (single), Braden Shewmake (RBI double) and Eli White (RBI single).

Manning’s fastball sat around 91 mph on the stadium radar gun.

“Physically, I think I’m on track,” Manning said. “Pitchability, I have to get a little better and execute some more pitches. I feel like I’m getting ahead of guys. My slider was good. I got a lot of swings and misses on that. I’m taking it day by day, and I’ll keep going.”

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At the plate

The first long ball from Meadows sparked the Tigers.

Justyn-Henry Malloy, a prospect acquired from the Braves in the offseason, collected his first hit — a single to right field — with one out in the fourth inning. Andre Lipcius drove him in for the Tigers’ second run on a double to the gap in left-center field.

The Tigers added two more runs in the fifth inning. Facing left-handed reliever A.J. Minter, the first four batters reached safely: Riley Greene (single), Spencer Torkelson (walk), Austin Meadows (RBI single) and Parker Meadows (RBI single). Those plate appearances cut the Tigers’ deficit to 5-4.

Greene and the Meadows Bros. are left-handed hitters.

“It always feels good,” said Parker Meadows, who hit .196 against lefties in the minor leagues last season. “I struggled off them a little bit last year. I worked on that in the offseason. … I’ve been implementing some angled toss in my pregame routine.”

Austin Meadows finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Both hits were ground balls into the outfield. Malloy drew a walk in the second inning, and Torkelson cranked a hard-hit single off the left-field wall in the sixth.

Former Tigers reliever Joe Jiménez, sent to Atlanta to acquire Malloy in the offseason trade, pitched the seventh inning for the Braves. He allowed two runs, with the first on back-to-back two-out doubles from Corey Joyce and Andrew Navigato.

The Tigers’ reserve players, primarily recent draft picks, chipped in a whopping six runs in the eighth inning. Roberto Campos stroked a 94 mph fastball for a two-run single to center field, making it 16-7.

On the mound

Right-hander Edwin Uceta pitched a scoreless fourth inning.

Righty Alex Faedo allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts across the next 1⅔ innings. His slider looked sharp early, but it wasn’t as effective later in the outing. He primarily threw sliders and changeups.

Rule 5 draft pick Mason Englert, another righty, was effective in relief of Faedo. He got the final out in the sixth inning and delivered a scoreless seventh inning, striking out Adeiny Hechavarria to conclude his appearance.

Left-hander Miguel Del Pozo fired a scoreless eighth, while righty Brendan White finished the game with a scoreless ninth, though he allowed two hits.