Casey Mize tossed six strong innings, Spencer Torkelson had two hits and three RBIs and the Detroit Tigers took the opener of a doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies 10-2 on Thursday afternoon in Denver.
Justyn-Henry Malloy, Andy Ibanez, Javier Baez, Gleyber Torres and Trey Sweeney also had two hits for Detroit, which finished with 14 hits.
Jordan Beck tripled and scored in the ninth for Colorado, which has lost five straight and 30 of its first 36 games this season.
Mize (6-1) gave up a single leading off the bottom of the first inning, then retired the next 13 batters he faced.
Nick Martini broke up the string with a one-out single in the fifth, went to third on Mickey Moniak’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Mize ended his day by striking out the side in order in the sixth inning. He gave up one run on three hits, fanned eight and didn’t walk a batter.
He has allowed just a single run in three of his last four outings.
The Tigers jumped on starter Kyle Freeland in the first inning. Zach McKinstry started the rally with a two-out single and scored on Ibanez’s double. Torkelson ripped a sharp single to left to make it 2-0.
Detroit sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning. Tomas Nido and Sweeney singled and Malloy walked to load the bases. Torres brought home a run with a single, another run scored on an error by shortstop Alan Trejo and Ibanez’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0. Torkelson followed with a two-run double.
The Tigers added on in the third. Baez doubled and scored on a single by Sweeney, who advanced to second on an error and scored on Malloy’s single.
Freeland (0-5) was done after three innings. He allowed nine runs (five earned) and surrendered 11 hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Detroit added another run in the seventh against reliever Angel Chivilli. Torkelson reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Baez’s single.
–Field Level Media
