Jake Rogers returned to his home state with two homers on the season, then doubled his total in front of a throng of family and friends in the Tigers' 2-1 win over the Rangers on Monday night.
Rogers homered in the third off starter Nathan Eovaldi, who was otherwise dominant, to tie the game, then took reliever Jose LeClerc deep in the eighth to put the Tigers ahead. Both were shots down the left-field line, with Rogers pointing to his cheering section as he rounded the bases.
It's been a frustrating season at the plate for Rogers a year after he blasted 21 homers in just 107 games, tied for sixth among big-league catchers. Turns out some home-cooking was all he needed.
"It’s awesome, I can’t leave Texas without a homer," he said on the field after the game. "I don’t know if they’d let me back home. In the offseason I live 30 minutes from here and my family’s driving in from five, six hours away where I grew up."
With the power outburst, Rogers raised his OPS by more than 70 points, up to .673 on the season. As A.J. Hinch put it, "He was our offense."
Tarik Skubal and Beau Brieske provided the pitching. Skubal held Texas to one run over six innings despite surrendering a leadoff homer to Marcus Semien and facing a number of jams along the way, lowering his season ERA to 1.97.
"He’s a dog," said Rogers. "He’s coming out every fifth day and it’s Skubal Day. He’s going to come at you, no matter what. He’s such a good competitor."
And Brieske took care of the rest, slicing through the Rangers' lineup to shut the door. He allowed just one hit over three innings, his longest-ever outing as a reliever. And he fought threw some nervy moments in the ninth when he struggled to communicate with Rogers in a rowdy atmosphere.
"It got intense," he said. "I couldn't hear anything on the PitchCom. Jake came out there and was like, 'Hey, you gotta turn it up. Hang with me here and throw what I call.' It was a lot of fun, though. The blood was rushing, heart was pumping."
With a man on second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Hinch paid a visit to the mound to let Brieske know it was now or never. He responded by getting Leody Tavares to fly out to end the game.
"It was his last hitter, which is why I went out to tell him and see where he was, and he kept saying, 'I got it, I got it.' I said, 'Then get this guy, it's your last guy,' and he did. Tremendous job by both Tarik and Beau, but especially Beau given that type of ending doesn’t happen very often nowadays," said Hinch.
With the win, the Tigers move back to .500 on the season at 30-30. They play two more against the reigning World champions Tuesday and Wednesday.