The ball was flying in Wednesday’s doubleheader.
In Game 2, the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves combined for six home runs — for a total of 11 homers in the doubleheader — to conclude the three-game series at Comerica Park. The Tigers showed consistent power swings for the first time this season, but they ended up on the losing end of both games, including a 6-5 final in Game 2.
“I thought our at-bats were pretty good,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “In Game 1, they were good. In Game 2, they were good. They made some adjustments in how they were pitching us. We had a couple opportunities, certainly late, but I think our at-bats got better and we got rewarded for some good pitch selection.”
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With the doubleheader sweep, the Tigers (27-39) have dropped 11 of 12 games heading into a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Twins (35-33) own the best record in the American League Central.
As for Game 2 of Wednesday’s twinbill, the Braves took their final lead in the sixth inning when Eddie Rosario hit right-hander Michael Lorenzen’s changeup for a solo home run to right-center.
“They hit one more ball out of the ballpark at the right time,” Hinch said.
Lorenzen, who entered Wednesday with a 3.75 ERA in 10 starts, allowed six runs on nine hits and two walks with three strikeouts across six innings. His ERA jumped to 4.23 as a result of the struggles in his 11th start.
“Terrible performance by me,” Lorenzen said. “I need to be better than that. There’s just so many things I need to do better. Putting the team in a hole like that, the fact that they were able to almost get us back out of that hole is impressive. That’s on me.”
The Braves hit three home runs off Lorenzen, but the best homer occurred in the third inning when Ronald Acuña Jr. clobbered an 81.8 mph sweeper down the middle with a 114.5 mph exit velocity.
The ball traveled 461 feet to center, hitting high off the batters’ eye below the center-field fountain.
It was one of the most impressive homers in Comerica Park history.
“He is as dynamic as they come,” Hinch said of Acuña. “He’s an electrifying player. It’s scary when he gets up. He can do everything on the field. It’s good for the game, but it’s not good when you play him.”
The Braves scored two runs on Orlando Arcia’s two-run single to left field. There was a play at the plate, and catcher Jake Rogers thought he tagged Ozzie Albies — and told Hinch to challenge the call — but the Tigers didn’t challenge t.
“The information we got was not to challenge,” Hinch said.
“I immediately told him to check,” Rogers said. “I was pointing at his foot because I knew I got him on the foot. I guess we didn’t see it. That’s 10 seconds to challenge that. … Sure enough, they saw the replay, and we did (tag him out). But it is what it is.”
Power from Tigers
The Tigers kept the game interesting, despite their previously struggling lineup, by cranking three home runs off left-hander Dylan Dodd. The Braves promoted Dodd as the 27th player for the doubleheader.
The rookie allowed five runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
In the third inning, Andy Ibáñez put the Tigers on the scoreboard — trailing 3-1 — with a solo home run off Dodd’s 90.9 mph fastball. He hit the elevated fastball 420 feet, clearing the bullpens in left field.
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In the fourth, Matt Vierling crushed Dodd’s fourth-pitch 91.3 mph fastball for a solo home run to left, trimming the Tigers’ deficit to 5-2. The right-handed hitter has sent three of his five homers to the pull side this season.
After Vierling’s long ball, the Tigers kept the momentum going with Jonathan Schoop’s single and Miguel Cabrera’s walk. Then, Rogers jumped a first-pitch slider for a 360-foot three-run home run to left.
The three-run shot tied the game, 5-5.
“We battle,” Rogers said. “It’s what we want to do. We never want to be out of it, and we don’t think we’re ever out of it. We’re ready to punch back when they punch us. We lost two (games), but I’m proud of this team.”
Rogers, hitting .174 in 42 games, leads the Tigers with nine home runs, ahead of Spencer Torkelson (seven homers) and Nick Maton (six). Vierling, Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry are tied for fourth with five homers.
Reliable relievers
Both bullpens kept the other team scoreless following Rosario’s go-ahead home run.
As the Braves posted zeros, the Tigers received scoreless efforts from right-hander Jason Foley in the seventh, righty José Cisnero in the eighth and left-hander Chasen Shreve in the ninth.
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The Tigers faced ex-Tiger Joe Jiménez in the bottom of the ninth inning.
He retired Cabrera (strikeout) and Rogers (401-foot flyout to center field) before left-handed reliever A.J. Minter entered to face Maton. But the Tigers pinch-hit Eric Haase, a right-handed hitter, to get the best matchup.
But Haase struck out swinging to end the game.
Jiménez, a right-handed reliever, also tossed a scoreless eighth inning for the Braves. Righty Collin McHugh covered the fifth, sixth and seventh innings with perfection (and four strikeouts).
“I figured he was going to go two innings,” Hinch said of McHugh, who pitched for Hinch with Houston in 2015-19. “I didn’t know he would go three. Collin has done that in the past, and it’s not that uncommon for him, but he was a huge bridge for them. … He threw a ton of sweeping sliders and a few hard cutters.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.