BY DAVE HOGG
DETROIT (AP) — Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit the first two homers of his MLB career, then added a game-tying single in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves won their seventh straight game with a 6-5 victory against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
The Tigers have lost five straight and eight of the past nine. Their lead in the AL Central — at 14 games shortly before the All-Star break and 10 games on Sept. 3 — is down to one game over the Cleveland Guardians, who swept a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.
The Braves trailed 5-4 going into the ninth. Ozzie Albies and Ha-Seong Kim started the ninth with singles off Will Vest (6-5), but he struck out Michael Harris II and Sandy León.
That brought up Alvarez, who had already homered in the third and eighth innings. He lined a single to right to tie the game and Jurickson Profar followed with a base hit to put the Braves ahead.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 27th save. Dylan Dodd (1-0) got the win in relief with a scoreless eighth.
The Tigers trailed 3-1 after the top of the third, but scored a run in the bottom of the inning, tied the game in the sixth on Zach McKinstry’s pinch-hit homer and took the 5-3 lead on Spencer Torkelson’s seventh-inning homer off Pierce Johnson.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Torkelson’s RBI single.
Alvarez tied it in the third with his first homer, and Drake Baldwin made it 3-1 with his second homer in as many games later in the inning.
Wenceel Perez cut the deficit to 3-2 with a sacrifice fly in the third.
Key moment
Trailing 3-2, the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth. After a visit to the mound, Joey Wentz was allowed to face Riley Greene — his teammate in Detroit from 2022-24. Greene swung at and missed a slider, then flew out to shallow left on a 94-mph fastball.
Key stat
Torkelson’s homer was his 31st, tying the career high he set in 2023.
Up next
The teams finish the weekend series on Sunday, with Tigers RHP Casey Mize (14-5, 3.88) scheduled to face RHP Spencer Strider (6-13, 4.64).
