The Detroit Tigers started their homestand this week with a bang.
Parker Meadows blasted a homer to lead off the bottom of the first and the Tigers cruised to an 11-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
Meadows has driven in 12 runs over the past five games. The Tigers (74-71) have won their past three games.
Right-hander Casey Mize will start for Detroit in the second game of the series. Mize (2-6, 4.30 ERA) has made two starts since his return from a left hamstring strain that sidelined him for two months.
Both outings have resulted in no-decisions. He gave up three earned runs in six innings against the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 30, then allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
The runs Mize gave up to the Padres came on home runs — a solo shot by Jurickson Profar and a two-run blast by Xander Bogaerts.
“I made a mistake to Profar; it was supposed to be down and away and it was up and in,” Mize said. “And with Bogaerts, one thing we talked about was not leaving spin in the zone. So of course that’s what I do.”
Mize settled in after that and the Tigers rallied for a 4-3 win on Meadows’ ninth-inning grand slam.
“At that point (after the homers), I’m just resetting and telling myself to hold it right there for as long as I could,” he said. “Happy to be able to do that. Salvaged the outing a little bit. But I prefer not to be in those situations.”
Mize, who will be making his 19th start this season, will be facing the Rockies for the first time in his career.
Left-hander Austin Gomber (5-10, 4.50 ERA) was originally slated to start for Colorado (54-91). Gomber has posted quality outings in four of his past five starts.
However, Gomber was placed on the paternity list on Tuesday and will miss the series.
Tanner Gordon has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque and is expected to start in Gomber’s place.
Gordon (0-5, 7.55 ERA), a rookie right-hander, has made seven major league starts. His most recent outing with the Rockies came against Washington on Aug. 21 when he allowed five runs on eight hits in four innings.
His best outing came on Aug. 3, when he held San Diego to one run and one hit in six innings.
The Rockies are hoping for a better start than Bradley Blalock gave them on Tuesday. He allowed five runs during the first two innings, partly due to control issues. In contrast, the Tigers’ Keider Montero tossed a shutout without issuing a walk.
“Bradley was the opposite of Montero,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He didn’t walk a batter in nine innings and Bradley had five walks and 80-plus pitches in four innings. You’ve got to get the ball in the strike zone.”
The Rockies offense wasn’t any better. Colorado was blanked for the fifth time since the All-Star break. The offense on Tuesday was limited to three singles.
