Nine Tigers drive in runs as Detroit rallies past Rockies, 11-7

Hao-Yu Lee had the biggest individual line Saturday afternoon, but the more interesting part of the Tigers' 11-7 win over the Colorado Rockies was how little Detroit had to rely on one hitter to produce its offense.

Nine different Tigers finished with at least one RBI as Detroit erased deficits of 3-0, 4-2 and eventually 7-4 before breaking the game open with seven runs in the eighth inning. Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, Lee, Colt Keith, Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Ben Malgeri and John Peck all drove in runs, giving the Tigers one of their more balanced offensive performances of the season.

It started with McGonigle, who continued his impressive rookie season by hitting his 17th home run in the third inning. Detroit entered the inning trailing 3-0 after Hunter Goodman took Andrew Sears deep for a three-run homer, but McGonigle's solo shot got the Tigers on the board. Later in the inning, Greene and Eduardo Valencia singled before Clark drove in Greene with a base hit to right, cutting Colorado's lead to 3-2.

The Rockies added another run against Sears in the fourth when Adael Amador doubled home Jordan Beck, but Detroit again responded. Brett Callahan opened the bottom half with a double, and Lee drove him home with an RBI double of his own. Keith followed with a single to right that scored Lee and tied the game at four.

That pattern became the story of the afternoon. Colorado kept putting Detroit in situations where it had to answer, and the Tigers kept finding different hitters to do it.

Sears' afternoon ended with one out in the fifth after Connor Norby doubled and TJ Rumfield singled. Tyler Kinley entered with runners at the corners and escaped without allowing either inherited runner to score, keeping the game tied. Sears allowed four runs and struck out five, with Goodman's three-run homer doing most of the damage against him.

Detroit had an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Valencia walked and Clark doubled, but the Tigers couldn't bring either runner home. Colorado then regained control in the sixth. Kinley walked Beck and hit Amador before Drew Sommers entered, and Jake McCarthy delivered a two-run single that put the Rockies ahead 6-4. Colorado added another insurance run in the eighth when Ezequiel Tovar homered, stretching the advantage to 7-4.

Then came the inning that changed the game.

Lee opened the bottom of the eighth with a double, and Torres immediately drove him home with another double. Greene singled home Torres to make it 7-6, Valencia followed with another single and Clark walked to load the bases. Suddenly, what had looked like another afternoon of Detroit chasing the Rockies had turned into a bullpen problem for Colorado.

The Tigers didn't need a home run to finish the comeback, either.

Torkelson worked a bases-loaded walk that tied the game. Malgeri followed with another walk to force home the go-ahead run, and Peck's sacrifice fly made it 9-7. After McGonigle lined out, Lee capped the inning by driving a two-run triple to right field, giving Detroit an 11-7 lead. In all, six different Tigers recorded an RBI during the seven-run inning.

That may be the most encouraging part of the game for Detroit. Lee finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, three RBIs, two runs and a walk, but the Tigers didn't win simply because Lee carried the lineup. McGonigle homered. Clark reached base multiple times and drove in a run. Greene contributed another RBI hit. Keith produced in the middle innings. Torres helped start the eighth-inning comeback, while Torkelson and Malgeri were disciplined enough to take their walks rather than trying to do too much with the bases loaded.

Even Peck, who had grounded into a double play with runners on the corners in the second inning, contributed a productive plate appearance late with his sacrifice fly.

For a Tigers team that has spent much of the second half evaluating what its next core could look like, there was something useful about the way Saturday unfolded. The pitching wasn't particularly sharp, and Detroit gave Colorado too many opportunities to keep extending the lead. But offensively, this was considerably closer to the formula the Tigers would like to see going forward.

There were contributions from the prospects, contributions from the established hitters and contributions from players fighting for larger roles. Detroit didn't have to wait for one hitter to rescue the offense. It kept putting runners on base, kept forcing Colorado to make pitches and eventually turned a three-run deficit into a four-run victory.

Kenley Jansen handled the ninth, striking out two as Detroit finished off the 11-7 win.