Spencer Torkelson hit a double and a triple in his return to the major leagues, and the Detroit Tigers won 4-0 against the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Torkelson, who will turn 25 on August 26, was hitting .201 with four home runs when he was sent down to Triple-A on June 2. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft was called back up this weekend, along with Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney, who are also top infield prospects for Detroit.
“That was a really fun game and, gosh, it is great to be back,” Torkelson said.
Tigers right-hander Keider Montero (4-5) struck out five batters in five-plus innings during his 10th career start. He allowed two hits and earned his third consecutive win.
“He’s got really good stuff — he just has weapons,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s not just about his fastball and slider — his changeup has gotten better — and when you put that together, he’s been very effective.”
Tyler Holton pitched three innings after Montero, and Jason Foley finished the game, working around Aaron Judge’s leadoff double in the ninth inning.
“They have held us down — even yesterday, we got lucky and hit a couple balls out of the park,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s a team that has done a very nice job of preventing runs, and they’ve had to do it in some creative ways.”
Yankees starter Carlos Rodón (13-8) gave up four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
“I didn’t have my A-plus stuff, but I have to be better than that,” he said. “I put the boys down 4-0 in the second.”
The Tigers went up 1-0 in the first inning with an RBI single from Colt Keith, then scored three more runs in the second inning.
Torkelson hit a leadoff double. Rodón retired the next two batters, but Zach McKinstry hit an RBI single, and Matt Vierling walked. Andy Ibáñez then hit a two-run double to left field.
“They really made him work with some really long at-bats,” Boone said. “He really couldn’t put guys away with two strikes, so it was foul ball, foul ball, foul ball, and then they would take advantage of a mistake over the plate.”
