Parker Meadows homers on second pitch, Tigers romp over Rockies, 11-0
Published in Baseball
DETROIT — Might be some fun at the next Grayson High School all-class reunion.
Two of the more famous alums from that Loganville, Ga., school had an altercation of sorts Tuesday night that might get talked about some.
Parker Meadows, the Tigers’ center fielder, and Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Bradley Blalock were teammates at Grayson in 2018.
Meadows won the battle and the Tigers won the war Tuesday.
Meadows hit Blalock’s second pitch of the game on a line into the right-field seats, his seventh homer of the season, sending the Tigers off and running to an 11-0 romp over the Rockies at Comerica Park.
It was the third straight win for the Tigers (74-71) and moves them to within 2.5 on the Twins for the final wild-card spot in the American League.
Blalock came into the game with a walk rate of 11.5% and the Tigers exploited that weakness. He ended up walking five in four innings, including losing Meadows twice.
He walked Meadows and rookie Jace Jung in the second, loading the bases for Riley Greene, who swatted a first-pitch, three-run triple into the right-field corner.
Meadows sizzled a single through a drawn-in infield in a six-run sixth inning against reliever Anthony Molina, scoring two more runs.
Since coming off the injured list Aug. 3, Meadows is hitting .308 (37 for 120) with eight doubles, four triples, four homers, 21 runs scored and 20 RBIs.
Greene, Matt Vierling (two RBIs) and Colt Keith had a pair of hits each. Andy Ibáñez, who got the start at first base in place of Spencer Torkelson (ill), capped the 10-batter, six-run sixth with a two-run single off right-handed reliever Justin Lawrence.
That was more than enough cushion for rookie right-hander Keider Montero, who in his 15th big league start had a career night. He pitched the Tigers' first complete game and complete-game shutout since Spencer Turnbull's no-hitter in 2021.
He allowed three singles but still faced the minimum 27 hitters in the nine innings, striking out five. And he did it under 100 pitches.
He breezed through the Rockies' batting order the first two times, allowing only a single and facing the minimum 18 hitters through six innings.
They made six outs within two pitches or less in those innings.
He allowed a second single in the seventh inning (Ezequiel Tovar) and that runner, too, was erased by a double play. He allowed another single to lead off the eighth (Aaron Schunk) and that runner was also erased in a double play.
Through eighth innings, he'd faced the minimum 24 batters and he needed just 83 pitches to do it.
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