Riley Greene, Trey Sweeney homer as Tigers club Rockies for fourth consecutive win

DETROIT — This looked like the baseball equivalent of a first-round knockout, except the Colorado Rockies stayed on their feet for the full nine rounds.

The Tigers batted around and scored six runs off rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon in the first inning and rope-a-doped the Rockies the rest of the way, holding on for a 7-4 win at Comerica Park on Wednesday.

It was their fourth straight win and at 75-71, the Tigers move to 2.5 games behind the Twins (pending the outcome of their game against the Angels) for the final wild-card spot in the American League.

Riley Greene got things started, lining his 21st home run to right field. Gordon threw him three change-ups in a four-pitch sequence and Greene didn’t miss the third one.

Kerry Carpenter, who ended up with four hits and a homer short of a cycle, ripped a slider into the right-field corner, scoring Matt Vierling from first base. Carpenter scored on a single by Spencer Torkelson.

The inning was capped by a mighty three-run swat from rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney. He worked a nine-pitch at-bat before unloading on an elevated 3-2 slider. The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 108.5 mph and flew 407 feet into the seats in right field.

It was his fourth homer of the season and his second in three games.

The six runs was the most the Tigers scored in the first inning since they scored seven on July 7, 2018 against Texas.

Greene, who had two hits, lofted a sacrifice fly to score Jake Rogers, who had doubled and aggressively advanced to third on a fly out to right, in the fourth.

It was all about holding on after that.

Right-hander Casey Mize, in his third start since returning off the injured list, was in full command through four innings.

He had the Rockies’ hitters off-balance with his mix of splitters and knuckle-curves off a 95-mph four-seam fastball. He was missing bats and posting strikeouts, six in the first four innings and seven total.

The only smudge at that point was a solo homer in the second by Ryan McMahon, who dropped the barrel on a slider and drove it over the fence in right.

Then the fifth inning happened. With two on and two out, Ezequiel Tovar jumped a first-pitch slider and drove it into the right-center field gap. Both runs scored. After a mound visit, he threw another first-pitch slider. Brenton Doyle slammed this one into center for an RBI single.

Just like that, it was a three-run game, and with left-handed hitting McMahon coming up, manager AJ Hinch made the move to the bullpen, summoning lefty Tyler Holton. Mize was visibly upset but left to a warm ovation.

Even though he will be frustrated about the sudden ending, the outing marked a step forward for Mize. Aside from the slider, which remains an issue, he was getting a more swing and miss than normal with his four-seam and splitter combination.

He got 13 misses on 37 swings overall, eight misses on 13 swings with the split.

Holton, again, was stellar. He got five outs, leaving with a runner on and two outs in the seventh. Since June 29, Holton has allowed two earned runs in 42 2/3 innings.

Will Vest took the baton and recorded four straight outs, leaving the ninth to Jason Foley. Foley, throwing 99-mph sinkers and four-seamers, 91-mph sliders and 92-mph change-ups, earned his 22nd save.

Rookie Jace Jung left the game in the sixth inning. In the fifth, he fouled a ball off his right knee. He played third base in the top of the sixth but was replaced after that.