Torkelson and Greene homer as the Tigers earn a rare series win against the Boston Red Sox
DETROIT - Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene each hit a two-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Sunday.
The Tigers (70-68) earned their second series win in the last 13 against Boston and won the season series for the first time since 2017. They trail the Red Sox (70-67) by a half-game for fourth in the AL wild-card race.
Brant Hurter (3-1) pitched five innings of one-run ball for the win. He entered with two on and one out in the second and got Wilyer Abreu to bounce into a double play.
Jason Foley, the fourth Tigers pitcher, got his 20th save with a perfect ninth.
Red Sox opener Cooper Criswell pitched four perfect innings, striking out five. But Rich Hill (0-1) and Zack Kelly faltered.
Jarren Duran's two-out RBI single lifted Boston to a 1-0 lead in the fifth, but the 44-year-old Hill issued a leadoff walk to Kerry Carpenter in the bottom half. Jace Jung struck out before Torkelson hit a drive to left for his eighth homer.
Greene made it 4-1 in the sixth, lining a two-run homer - his 20th - off Kelly that went just inside the right-field foul pole.
Boston's search for late-game offense led to Red Sox manager Alex Cora playing Conner Wong in left field for his first appearance in the outfield since college.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox return home for a three-game series with the New York Mets. Neither team had announced their pitching plans for the Labor Day opener.
Detroit flies across the country for a holiday afternoon game against the San Diego Padres. The game comes two days after the Tigers honored their 1984 championship team, which beat the Padres in the World Series in five games. The teams have Tuesday off before finishing the series on Wednesday and Thursday.