Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers gash Guardians, 11-7, with Andy Ibáñez’s two homers, Ryan Vilade’s key hits
CLEVELAND — Andy Ibáñez, known for crushing left-handed pitchers, had a prime spot for success Tuesday night: Hitting leadoff for the Detroit Tigers against Cleveland Guardians left-hander Logan Allen. He took advantage of the opportunity by hitting two home runs in the first two innings.
The Tigers and Guardians combined for 18 runs on 23 hits in Tuesday’s game, but the Tigers scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and then piled on in the later innings for an 11-7 win in the second of three games at Progressive Field.
Ibáñez, who drove in four of the 11 runs, finished 4-for-4 with two home runs, one single, one double and one walk. It marked the first four-hit game of his career.
The Tigers (19-17) snapped a four-game losing streak behind Ibáñez’s two homers, rookie Ryan Vilade’s big hits and seven scoreless innings from four relievers out of the bullpen.
A single to remember from Vilade — promoted before Tuesday’s game as the replacement for demoted center fielder Parker Meadows — drove in two runs for a 7-7 tie in the third inning. He hit a two-strike changeup below the strike zone for a single to left field against right-handed reliever Pedro Avila.
A single from Riley Greene and a double from Spencer Torkelson set the table for the first hit of Vilade’s career.
Vilade waited more than two years for that hit. The 25-year-old hadn’t returned to the big leagues — until Tuesday’s game — since going 0-for-6 with one walk across seven plate appearances in three games for the Colorado Rockies in September 2021.
The Tigers took an 8-7 lead when Matt Vierling grounded into a double play after singles from Ibáñez and Wenceel Pérez.
Vilade drove in another run in the seventh inning for a 9-7 lead. The newcomer drove in Jake Rogers, who doubled as part of his own two-hit performance, with a ground-ball single to left field off left-handed reliever Tim Herrin’s fastball.
A two-run single from Matt Vierling extended the Tigers’ lead to 11-7 with two outs in the eighth.
The Tigers received scoreless performances from four relievers: left-hander Tyler Holton (three innings), right-hander Alex Faedo (two innings), left-hander Andrew Chafin (one inning) and right-hander Alex Lange (one inning).
Holton saved the Tigers’ pitching staff after a rough two-inning start from right-hander Kenta Maeda.
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Andy’s dandy
Ibáñez flexed his muscles from the third pitch of the game.
The 31-year-old smacked a middle-middle fastball from Allen, a left-hander, with a 102.3 mph exit velocity for a 388-foot home run to left field. It was his first homer of the season, and his first of two homers Tuesday.
The Tigers hit a leadoff homer in back-to-back games for the first time since Ramón Santiago did it on June 3-4, 2022; it was also the third leadoff dinger in four games, marking the first such run in franchise history. (The other leadoff homers were hit by Greene on Saturday in New York and Monday in Cleveland.)
Ibáñez’s next homer occurred in the next inning.
Ibáñez put the Tigers in front, 5-2, with a three-run shot in the second inning. This time, Ibáñez pushed Allen’s middle-away fastball with a 98.2 mph exit velocity for a 367-foot homer to right.
In addition to Ibáñez’s four RBIs, Javier Báez produced an RBI single as part of the Tigers’ five runs in the first two innings. Allen struggled for the Guardians, allowing seven runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts across 2⅓ innings.
Ibáñez added a single in the fourth inning, a walk in the sixth and a double in the eighth.
Maeda mashed
Maeda allowed seven runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeouts across two innings, throwing 59 pitches. The 36-year-old, who signed a two-year free-agent contract over the winter, has a 6.75 ERA across 30⅔ innings in seven starts.
He gave up two runs in the first inning, but the real damage occurred in the second inning. Estevan Florial delivered an RBI double, José Ramírez ripped a two-run double, and Josh Naylor obliterated Maeda’s 90.9 mph fastball for a two-run home run to right field.
The homer from Naylor put the Guardians ahead, 7-5. Naylor, who has nine home runs in 34 games this season, hit the ball 407 feet with a 106.2 mph exit velocity.
Maeda generated five whiffs on 25 swings — a 20% whiff rate — with four splitters and one slider. His fastball averaged 90.2 mph but didn’t produce any swings and misses.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Chickens and geese that went missing from a local nonprofit’s Detroit site were found in the backyard of a nearby home, the director of operations said Wednesday.
The Full Circle Foundation, a Grosse Point Park-based nonprofit, said more than a dozen chickens and geese were believed stolen from a chicken coop on Detroit’s east side that also features the Full Circle Edible Garden.
The nonprofit provides training and job opportunities for young people with special needs.
Neighbors who learned from news reports about the missing flock found the “chickens were being held in the backyard of a vacant home not far from the Full Circle Edible Garden,” said Stephanie DiVirgil, director of operations. She said Ribbon Farm 4-H owns the flock.
“The homeowner was contacted, and she reached out to Full Circle to confirm,” said DiVirgil. “We were able to retrieve all of the chickens and geese that were found on the property, 19 in total.”
The foundation and Ribbon Farms 4-H are working to secure the site, including cameras, fencing and lights.
“We will likely start a fundraising campaign to have these items installed,” DiVirgil said. “We’ve gotten amazing support from the community, including offers to help pay for these additional security measures.”
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Human remains were found in a furnace of an home on Detroit’s west side, the Detroit Police Department tells us.
The remains was found by an individual working on the home in the 5200 block of S Clarendon just after 11 a.m.
Anyone with information can call 313-596-2260 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SpeakUp.
Stay with WXYZ.com for updates on this developing story.
The Detroit Police Department is investigating after a 5-year-old child was shot in the arm near a park on Tuesday.
The shooting happened at about 8:50 p.m. near the Fargo-Oaklfield Playground on the city’s west side. Police Chief Todd Bettison says the child was in front of his home riding a bike with his father supervising at the time of the shooting.
Bettison says an individual at the park fired multiple shots, striking the child. He says the boy’s father reported hearing shots and the child falling from his bike.
Bettison says the child is expected to be OK.
Bettison says the person appears to have been firing shots randomly, which he calls “problematic.” He says a person of interest is described as possibly between 15 and 16 years old and wearing a mask. He says the person is known to frequent the area.
“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must go down,” Bettison said. “To parents and everyone, know where your kids are. Juveniles should not have guns, and whether you’re an adult or a child, you should not be firing a weapon inside of the city limits.”
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield released a statement, saying in part, “By the grace of God, this young boy will recover from his injury and is on his way home from the hospital. With that said, this incident was senseless and could have had a much more tragic ending.
“Every child in Detroit deserves to feel safe riding their bike, playing outside, and simply being a child in their own neighborhood. We cannot accept a reality where our children are placed in harm’s way because someone chose to recklessly fire a gun.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.
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