DETROIT (AP) — Wenceel Pérez homered in his first at-bat in his season debut, Jack Flaherty worked six scoreless innings and Riley Greene had three hits and two RBIs as the American League-leading Detroit Tigers beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Pérez, who had missed the entire season due to a lower back injury, hit a 2-0 pitch 351 feet to right field in the second inning for his first homer since Aug. 7.

Greene has 22 RBIs in May, the first time in a calender month he has knocked in 20 runs, and has 38 RBIs overall. He is hitting .270 with six homers.

Flaherty (3-6) gave up two hits and a walk while striking out eight as the Tigers won their third straight and improved to 36-20. He retired the last 11 batters he faced. Will Vest pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Giants starter Logan Webb (5-5) allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings, striking out 10. San Francisco fell to 2-3 on their current nine-game trip.

Greene gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first. After Pérez homered in the second, Colt Keith led off the third with a triple and scored on Greene’s second hit. He added another double in the fifth before striking out in the eighth.

The Giants scored in the ninth when Heliot Ramos led off with a single and came around on a Wilmer Flores double. Greene made a sliding catch to rob Jung Hoo Lee of a base hit, and Vest retired the next two hitters to end the game.

The Tigers won despite striking out 13 times in eight innings.

Key moment

Giants manager Bob Melvin was ejected by home plate umpire Tony Randazzo after arguing balls and strikes in the fifth inning.

Key stat

Spencer Torkelson, who leads the Tigers in most offensive categories, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He is hitting .207 with six homers and 30 strikeouts in his last 33 games.

Up next

The teams finish their three-game series on Wednesday with Detroit RHP Jackson Jobe (4-1, 4.06) facing RHP Landen Roupp (3-3, 3.63).

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Associated Press

San Francisco Giants (31-23, third in the NL West) vs. Detroit Tigers (35-20, first in the AL Central)

Detroit; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Logan Webb (5-4, 2.67 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 74 strikeouts); Tigers: Jack Flaherty (2-6, 4.39 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 64 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Giants -120, Tigers +100; over/under is 7 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Tigers play the San Francisco Giants with a 1-0 series lead.

Detroit has gone 19-8 in home games and 35-20 overall. The Tigers have the fourth-ranked team slugging percentage in the AL at .410.

San Francisco has a 31-23 record overall and a 14-14 record in road games. The Giants have gone 19-7 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Tuesday’s game is the second time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Spencer Torkelson leads the Tigers with 13 home runs while slugging .524. Zach McKinstry is 6 for 30 with two home runs and three RBIs over the past 10 games.

Jung Hoo Lee leads the Giants with a .285 batting average, and has 14 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 14 walks and 31 RBIs. Heliot Ramos is 11 for 40 with two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 5-5, .211 batting average, 3.33 ERA, outscored by six runs

Giants: 6-4, .205 batting average, 2.02 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

INJURIES: Tigers: Reese Olson: 15-Day IL (finger), Parker Meadows: 60-Day IL (arm), Wenceel Perez: 60-Day IL (spine), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Cobb: 15-Day IL (hip), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 60-Day IL (hip), Alex Lange: 60-Day IL (lat)

Giants: Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (pectoral), Jerar Encarnacion: 60-Day IL (finger), Tom Murphy: 60-Day IL (back)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.