The Detroit Tigers have struggled to score runs this season, but that was not the case on Sunday afternoon. Neither did their opponents, the Toronto Blue Jays.
But the Tigers would get the last laugh thanks to Matt Vierling, who capped off a big day by giving a fitting ending to the crazy game.
Vierling came to the plate with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. He proceeded to send a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall to give the Tigers a 14-11 win and a a sweep of the three-game series at Comerica Park.
The homer was off two-time All-Star Jordan Romano.
Detroit jumped out to a 5-0 lead but Toronto kept chipping away at the lead with two in the fourth on Cavan Biggio’s two-run homer and another run in the fifth,
Carson Kelly’s three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth gave the Tigers an 8-3 lead, but the Blue Jays immediately countered with two in the top of the sixth.
Vierling’s first home run, in the bottom of the sixth, made it 9-5.
However, Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s solo home run in the seventh shaved it to 9-6, and Toronto put five on the board in the top of the eighth to take an 11-9 lead.
Mark Canha’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of eighth tied the contest at 11, with Vierling scoring the tying run.
For the day, Vierling was 4-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBI. He has five home runs and 23 RBI with a .278 average and a .775 OPS this season.