Tigers rout Guardians behind Ibáñez’s two HRs in Vilade’s debut

CLEVELAND — Andy Ibáñez, known for crushing left-handed pitchers, had a prime spot for success Tuesday night: He hit 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.

“It’s been a great day,” Ibáñez said. The Tigers and Guardians combined for 18 runs on 23 hits in Tuesday’s game, but the Tigers scored the goahead 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 most important part is that finally we won,” Ibáñez said in Spanish, as interpreted by Carlos Guillén, Tigers manager of Spanish communications and broadcasting. “It felt so long since the last time we won, and finally, we got it back.”

The Tigers (19-17) snapped a fourgame losing streak behind Ibáñez’s two homers, rookie Ryan Vilade’s big hits and seven scoreless innings from four relievers out of the bullpen.

“I’m really proud of the group,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “After the big inning for us, when they come back and get a big inning, we continued to fight back. Very productive night, a lot of contributions and a fun win, obviously one we needed with the way things have been going.”

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.

“Felt good, felt good,” Vilade said. “Weight off the shoulders, and I came up in a big spot, which was awesome.”

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 from right-hander Kenta Maeda.

“Whenever the score ties up, doesn’t matter what inning, I say it’s 0-0,” Holton said. “I had a coach a long time ago that used to say that. It was a punchfor-punch early on, so I was trying to create a little bit of momentum. Whether it’s false or not, if I can go 1-2-3, it helps our offense a little bit more.”

Andy’s dandy

start

Ibáñez flexed his muscles from the third pitch of the game.

The 31-year-old smacked a middlemiddle 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 in the game.

“I have my iPad,” Ibáñez said, when asked about his preparation. “The first thing you will see is the pitcher that’s starting. We know if we’re playing the next day on the day before, so I knew that I was playing, so I started studying their starter to see what pitches he threw to be ready for him. Also, one of the things I did, which helps me a lot all the time, is I went to the bullpen to track pitches. Our guys had bullpen sessions. I went over there. That helped me a lot.”

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.

He 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 field.

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 21⁄3 innings.

Ibáñez added a single in the fourth inning, a walk in the sixth and a double in the eighth.

“Never ever in my career, not anywhere I’ve played,” Ibáñez said. “Last year, remember, I had two home runs in the same game, but it wasn’t like this.”

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 twoyear, $24 million contract over the winter, has a 6.75 ERA across 302⁄3 innings in seven starts.

“It was a lot of first-pitch balls and a lot of misfires,” Hinch said. “He got into difficult counts, and then the balls that did come to the center of the zone got hit . ... It’s a tough lineup. They’re going to load it all with lefties, and if the splitter’s not on, he had a tough time combating their lineup.”

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.

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