Is Riley Greene franchise player for Detroit Tigers?
The “Days of Roar” podcast walks through the merits of Riley Greene being deemed a franchise player — and if it’s time for a contract extension.
- The Detroit Tigers lost to the Athletics, 7-6, in 10 innings in West Sacramento, California.
- Riley Greene hit his first career grand slam in the third inning to give the Tigers a short-lived 4-3 lead.
- Colt Keith also homered for the Tigers but missed two infield fly balls.
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA — Riley Greene, a two-time All-Star outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, hit the first grand slam of his MLB career in the third inning, driving the ball over the batter’s eye in center field at Sutter Health Park.
It traveled 471 feet.
Although Greene’s moonshot helped the Tigers, it wasn’t the deciding at-bat in the 7-6 loss to the Athletics on Tuesday, Aug. 26, in the second of three games in the series. The teams were tied heading into 10th inning; the Tigers scored one run, but the Athletics scored two.
It ended as Darell Hernaiz drew a walk-off walk from right-handed reliever Will Vest.
Not only have the Tigers (78-56) lost three games in a row, but they’ve also dropped the series to the Athletics after winning their previous five.
The Tigers (78-56) will need to win Wednesday, Aug. 27, in the finale against the Athletics to avoid getting swept.
The home run from Greene marked the fourth-longest MLB homer in 2025, trailing only Mike Trout (484), Byron Buxton (479) and Corbin Carroll (474), and the the longest homer for the Tigers in the Statcast era, which dates back to 2015. Before Greene’s homer, J.D. Martinez and Jeimer Candelario held the Tigers record in the Statcast era with homers that traveled 467 feet.
More importantly, the homer from Greene put the Tigers ahead, 4-3, in the top of the third, though the Athletics countered with two runs to retake the lead, 5-4, in the bottom of the inning.
To set the table, Jake Rogers walked, Colt Keith singled and Gleyber Torres walked. With two outs, Greene demolished right-hander Osvaldo Bido’s two-strike slider for a grand slam — his 32nd homer in 130 games this season, bringing him to 99 RBIs in 2025.
Greene hit the ball with a 110.7 mph exit velocity.
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The Tigers and Athletics entered the 10th inning tied at five runs apiece.
In the top of the 10th, the Tigers nearly stranded their free runner when Greene struck out swinging and Spencer Torkelson struck out swinging, but Wenceel Pérez extended the inning by drawing an eight-pitch walk. The Tigers capitalized when Zach McKinstry hit a ground-ball single to right field in a full count for a 6-5 lead.
The Tigers scored off right-handed reliever Elvis Alvarado in the 10th inning. The 26-year-old was a non-roster invitee to Tigers spring training in 2023. That year, Alvarado advanced to Double-A Erie, then the Tigers let him go.
In the bottom of the 10th, right-handed reliever Will Vest failed to strand the free runner.
Tyler Soderstrom bounced a single through the hole and into left field, scoring the runner from second base for a 6-6 tie. On the single, Soderstrom advanced to second base on Greene’s throw into the infield. An ensuing bunt from Colby Thomas moved Soderstrom to third base. After that, Hernaiz ended the game with a walk-off walk for a 7-6 win.
Vest threw nine of 23 pitches for strikes.
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Colt Keith: The good and the bad
The Tigers trailed 5-4 when the fifth inning began.
In that inning, Keith — who had a poor game defensively — tied the game, 5-5, with a solo home run off right-handed reliever Justin Sterner.
Keith has 12 home runs in 118 games.
The Tigers nearly blew the game because of Keith’s defense at third base in the seventh inning, as Brent Rooker reached second base on a pop fly that should’ve been caught easily.
Thankfully, right-handed reliever Troy Melton picked up Keith in the seventh by retiring the next two batters to strand the runner in scoring position.
Keith also had a bad throw on Shea Langeliers’ infield single to open the third inning, which led to a run. He dropped a pop up in front of home plate in the eighth inning, which turned into a double play.
Melton completed three scoreless innings, followed by right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan delivering a scoreless ninth inning to force extra innings.
Finnegan has thrown 11⅔ scoreless innings in 11 relief appearances since the Tigers acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. Before then, the 33-year-old had a 4.38 ERA in 40 games with the Washington Nationals.
Charlie Morton struggles
For the Tigers, right-hander Charlie Morton allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across five innings, throwing 86 pitches.
The Athletics attacked him for a 3-0 lead in the first inning, with Jacob Wilson ambushing a first-pitch sinker on the inside part of the strike zone for a three-run home run. In the third inning, the Athletics scored two runs off Morton for a 5-4 lead on Tyler Soderstrom’s single and Wilson’s groundout.
Morton worked around a two-out walk in the fourth inning and a leadoff double in the fifth inning.
He struck out Colby Thomas with a curveball to strand the runner on third base in the fifth, ending his fifth start since joining the Tigers at the July 31 trade deadline.
On the bright side, Morton generated 18 whiffs on 43 swings for an elite 41.9% whiff rate: 12 curveballs (on 17 swings), one fastball, two sinkers, two changeups and one cutter. His fastball averaged 94.4 mph, and his curveball generated a 70.6% whiff rate.
The box score wasn’t as positive.
Morton owns a 5.25 ERA in 28 games (22 starts).
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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