DETROIT — It's starting to get incomprehensible.

The Detroit Tigers put themselves in position to snap a four-game losing streak Saturday afternoon and slow this month-long free fall they've been in.

Spencer Torkelson, who has been abusing baseballs this entire homestand, delivered what seemed like the most important swing of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning.

His two-out, two-run missile deep into the seats in left field broke a 3-3 tie. It was Torkelson’s career-best-tying 31st homer. He hit a 3-2 curveball off right-hander Pierce Johnson, who had just been brought into the game. The ball flew 436 feet.

Torkelson’s emphatic fist-pump while he was still in the batter’s box spoke to the significance of that blast, as did the reaction of the crowd of 38,079 at Comerica Park.

But it was not to be.

The Braves scored twice off Will Vest in the top of the ninth, beating the Tigers, 6-5, and reducing their lead in the AL Central Division to 1 1/2 games. The Tigers have lost six straight home games and eight of their last nine.

Go back to the top of the eighth.

Kyle Finnegan, who hadn’t allowed a run in 14 1/3 innings as a Tiger, made his first appearance since coming off the injured list. And the scoreless streak ended abruptly.

Nacho Alvarez Jr. homered to lead off the inning. Alvarez hadn’t hit a homer in his young career. Until Saturday when he hit two against the Tigers.

It’s been that kind of stretch for the Tigers.

And he wasn't done.

Vest, who was hit with a four-run 10th inning against Cleveland earlier in the week, gave up two singles to start the inning.

Vest struck out Michael Harris II and Sandy Leon, which brought up that man again. Alvarez.

Vest got two strikes on him but Alvarez lined an RBI single to right to tie the game. Jurickson Profar followed with the go-ahead single.

Until the eighth, the Tigers' bullpen — Tommy Kahnle, Tyler Holton and Troy Melton — had dispatched 12 straight hitters to keep the game even, 3-3.

Zach McKinstry has had a lot of hard-hit balls land in fielder’s gloves recently. He missed a home run by a couple of feet Friday night, in fact. Still, he dragged an 0 for 20 skid with him to the plate to lead off the sixth.

The Tigers were down 3-2 and manager AJ Hinch sent the lefty-swinging McKinstry to pinch-hit for Andy Ibanez against right-handed reliever Hunter Statton.

McKinstry stayed on a 93 mph four-seamer that was up and away and drove it off the bullpen roof in left-center for his 12th home run.

The Tigers nibbled at old friend Joey Wentz, but they never took that big bite that was required.

Wentz, who mostly struggled in his three seasons in Detroit, has been a useful starting pitcher for the Braves. And he finished his five innings Saturday and turned a 3-2 lead over to his bullpen.

Gleyber Torres collected three hits, half the Tigers’ total against Wentz, and set up both runs. He singled and scored on a two-out single by Torkelson in the first inning.

His single in the third, the 1,000th hit of his career, advanced Jahmai Jones (also three hits in the game, two off Wentz) to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Wenceel Perez.

But the Tigers’ best opportunity against Wentz came in the fifth. With Jones and Torres at first and second, Wentz struck out Perez and then seemed to pitch around the right-handed hitting Torkelson, walking him on four pitches.

That set up a left-on-left confrontation against Riley Greene. Greene has a .638 OPS against lefties but he’s been scuffling this month (11 for 63, 13 strikeouts going into the at-bat).

Wentz got Greene to fly out to left.

Tigers starter Keider Montero, coming off five shutout innings in Miami, wasn’t the same pitcher. He struggled to locate his pitches and either get ahead of hitters or put them away once he got ahead.

He lasted three innings (69 pitches) done in by three walks and two third-inning homers — solo shot by Alvarez (first career home run) and a two-out, two-run blast by Drake Baldwin.

____

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.