JUPITER, Fla. – The Detroit Tigers lost 8-4 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Saturday.
The Tigers are 12-11 in the Grapefruit League game.
What happened
First baseman Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 overall for 2020, has been crushing baseballs throughout spring training. His exit speeds are excellent, and he’s recently been rewarded with extra base hits for it.
On Saturday, Torkelson was rewarded with a solo home run from opposing field in the fifth inning.
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The 23-year-old got a sixth pitch fastball in the hitting zone from Cardinal left-hander Matthew Liberatore on a full count. Torkelson hit the ball 359 feet to the right with an exit speed of 98.4 mph.
It was his first homer in spring practice.
Here we go
Left-hander Matthew Boyd, making his fourth start in spring training, allowed three runs with five hits and a walk with four strikeouts over four innings. The Cardinals, loaded with right-handers, tagged him for all three runs in the second inning.
Boyd threw 44 of 63 pitches for strikes and then threw additional pitches into the bullpen after his outing. He was scheduled for 65 pitches in the game.
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Boyd required eight pitches to three batters in the first inning, 33 pitches to eight batters in the second, eight pitches to three batters in the third, and 14 pitches to three batters in the fourth.
In the second, Willon drilled Contrera’s Boyd’s changeup below the strike zone for a double to center. Alec Burleson drove him in with a single and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Taylor Motter, trailing 2-0 on the count, converted a high-and-tight fastball. He sent the ball over the left field wall for a two-run home run and increased the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0.
After Motter’s homer, Boyd gave up two singles and a walk to the next five batters, but avoided further damage with two strikeouts and a pickoff. He knocked out Dylan Carlson with a wicked slider to complete the inning.
Boyd created seven puffs with a four seam fastball, a slider, four changeups and a curveball.
on the plate
The Tigers’ offense ended the inning with groundball doubleplays in the first, second and fourth. Third baseman Andy Ibáñez, who returned to the lineup for his first game since March 1 after spraining his left finger, hit two of them.
Ibáñez ended the game 0-3 with a strikeout.
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Along with Torkelson, the Tigers received hits from Kerry Carpenter, Eric Haase, César Hernández, Ryan Kreidler, Michael Papierski and Zack Short before the eighth inning. After Torkelson’s home run in the fifth, Haase ripped a double into left field but couldn’t score because the next three batters were out: Hernández (groundout), Jermaine Palacios (strikeout, and Carpenter (strikeout).
Both Torkelson and Haase collected two hits.
In the seventh, Hernández vaulted into right field via a fastball down center for an RBI double. The 32-year-old, who has seven doubles this spring, hitting .313s in 13 games with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Then Carpenter cut the Tigers’ lead to 5-4 with a subsequent RBI single.
Papierski added a double to open the ninth.
On the hill
Right-hander Beau Brieske, struggling for a role in the opening day’s bullpen, pitched in the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up two runs with four hits and a walk with two strikeouts, and threw 25 of 35 pitches for strikes.
Left-hander Tyler Alexander gave up three runs in the seventh inning. Carlson hit a two-run home run from an elevated 88-mile four-seam fastball, and Burleson threw in an RBI double.
Those runs extended the Cardinals’ lead to 8-4.
Right-hander Kervin Castro pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
He knocked out two doughs.
Three stars
1. Torkelson; 2. rabbit; 3.Boyd.
next up
Sunday (1:05 p.m.) vs. Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @ Evan Petzold.
This article originally appeared on the Detroit Free Press: Spencer Torkelson goes deep as the Detroit Tigers go to cards 8-4
Source : sports.yahoo.com