The 2020 season hasn’t been an easy one for Tigers catcher Greyson Greiner. On Sunday, Greiner showed signs of breaking out of his slump.
Greiner had two hits and two RBIs, including a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning that helped lead the Tigers to a 10-8 win over the Twins.
With one out in the eighth inning and the game tied 7-7, Greiner worked a full count against Twins reliever Sergio Romo, who had thrown five consecutive sliders. On the sixth slider, Greiner launched the ball 355 feet to left field for his third home run of the season.
His home run helped the Tigers stave off what would have been their fifth consecutive loss.
“I was just happy rounding the bases and seeing my teammates excited that we took the lead there in the late innings,” Greiner said. “We’re having fun in the locker room. We needed that one.”
While today’s outing was much needed for the team, it was also important for Greiner. The catcher entered the day with just four hits in 37 at-bats. He had gone hitless in nine of his twelve starts and struck out in nearly 40 percent of his plate appearances.
“(It) felt really good to come through for the team. I’ve been having my struggles this year. I just try to stay positive all the time I try never to get too down on myself,” Greiner said.
The eighth-inning homer was Greiner’s second bit hit of the day. In the sixth inning, Greiner drove in outfielder Jorge Bonifacio on a line drive into left field.
“He’s been working his tail off with (hitting coaches) Joe (Vavra) and Phil (Clark) in the cage and trying to get it going. He had a big hit in Milwaukee and obviously today’s hit was huge,” said Tigers bench coach Lloyd McClendon, who served as manager Sunday while Ron Gardenhire recovered from a stomach virus.
With 22 games left in the season, the Tigers are two games out of the final American League playoff spot. The Tigers take on the Twins for one more game on Monday before hosting the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday in Detroit.