Kevin McGonigle, Gleyber Torres and Max Clark each homered and drove in two runs apiece as the Detroit Tigers notched an 8-6 victory over the Athletics on Saturday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
McGonigle had three hits on a night in which the Tigers reportedly dealt two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three prospects ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson each had two hits and one RBI, and Clark, Torres and Eduardo Valencia also had two hits apiece as the Tigers beat the Athletics for the second straight night. Detroit has outscored the A’s 21-7.
Framber Valdez (6-7) allowed two runs and nine hits over seven innings for the Tigers. The left-hander struck out six and walked two.
Henry Bolte had three hits, including a three-run homer, and Tommy White also had three safeties for the Athletics, who have dropped seven of eight games and 28 of 35.
White and Lawrence Butler singled to start the eighth and Kyle Finnegan retired Jeff McNeil on a flyball before Bolte crushed his three-run blast to center to pull the Athletics within 8-5.
Kenley Jansen allowed a run in the ninth while recording his 13rd save. He allowed a leadoff double to Tyler Soderstrom and struck out the next two batters. Soderstrom, who had moved to third on a wild pitch, scored easily on McNeil’s bunt single before Bolte flew out to left to end it.
Athletics All-Star Nick Kurtz sat out due to his right thumb injury flaring up.
Jack Perkins (2-7) of the A’s was roughed up for six runs and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out a career-high nine and walked one.
Detroit moved ahead in the fifth as McGonigle hit a single and Torres followed with a two-run blast to right-center to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
The Tigers added two in the sixth as Torkelson singled and Clark followed with a two-run shot to right-center. Clark, Detroit’s top prospect, is 5-for-9 with a homer after two big league games.
Torkelson hit an RBI single in the seventh to give the Tigers a 7-2 lead. McGonigle’s run-scoring in the eighth made it a six-run margin.
McGonigle hit the third pitch of the game the opposite way and over the wall in left.
Later in the inning, Keith stroked an RBI single to make it 2-0.
The Athletics got a run back in the third when Jacob Wilson singled, White reached on a two-out infield single and Butler singled in Wilson from third.
In the fourth, Bolte led off with a ground-rule double and moved to third on an infield out. He later scored on Wilson’s fielder’s choice.
–Field Level Media
