Tigers' Eduardo Valencia homers twice, Troy Melton shuts down Orioles, 14-0

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Eduardo Valencia wasted no time providing an immediate impact in his return to the big leagues.

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On his first swing after being called up from Triple-A Toledo, Valencia sent a Dean Kremer sinker 416 feet into left field for his third home run across the first 13 MLB at-bats of his career. The Detroit Tigers rookie catcher provided a spark in a comfortable 14-0 win at Comerica Park over the Baltimore Orioles (52-56) on Tuesday, July 28.

The Tigers (51-57) bullied Kremer and the rest of the Orioles pitchers at the dish in what was a dominant night. Detroit scored at least one run in all eight innings. It is the 22nd time in MLB history a team has scored at least one run in every inning and the third time in franchise history (1912 – six inning-game, 2014). It is the second time it has happened this year, joining the Kansas City Royals on July 6.

Detroit jumped ahead with nine early runs in the first half of the game, led by a two-run Colt Keith triple, Valencia's home run, a Gleyber Torres home run and a two-run Torres double. Valencia capped his return with a two-run home run off Orioles catcher Chadwick Tromp, finishing 4-of-5 with four RBI.

The Tigers' commanding lead was more than enough wiggle room for right-handed starter Troy Melton. Melton threw seven scoreless innings, giving up three hits with five strikeouts. He moves to 6-1 this year while lowering his ERA to 1.75.

With the win, the Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak. They entered the night six games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and 4½ games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild-card spot.

At the plate: Eduardo Valencia leads the hit parade

Valencia re-joined the Tigers on Monday as a replacement for Kerry Carpenter, who was placed on the 10-day IL. He is now the team's backup catcher following the release of Jake Rogers on Tuesday.

Before the game, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch reiterated the team likes what Valencia brings as a hitter. He repaid that faith with three hits in his first three at-bats back with the Tigers. His home run had the fastest exit velocity of the night at 105.7 mph.

"We love what Valencia did when he was up here," Hinch said pregame.

The offensive avalanche started in the first inning. A Kevin McGonigle single and Riley Greene walk put two runners on for Keith. The third baseman hit a line drive to left-center field, just missing the diving glove of Baltimore center fielder Colton Cowser for his third triple of the season.

Torres drove in two runners in the second, following Valencia's home run, with a double down the right field line. In the fourth, he pulled a cutter down the middle for a two-run homer over the left field fence.

The Tigers racked up 19 hits, including seven for extra bases, for 14 runs. Valencia, Keith, Torres, shortstop Kevin McGonigle, pinch hitter Ben Malgeri and center fielder Javier Báez all had multi-hit games.

On the mound: Troy Melton shoves

Melton keeps stacking dominant starts. It was his third shutout start and the 10th time in his 11 starts in 2026 where he has given up two earned runs or fewer.

The Orioles only reached base five times against Melton with three singles and two walks. Baltimore did not have more than two base runners in an inning when Melton was on the mound.

Melton threw 92 pitches, including 58 strikes, and had the full arsenal on display. He threw 33 four-seam fastballs, 21 cutters, 13 splitters, 10 sliders, nine curveballs and six sinkers. He generated 11 whiffs on 42 Baltimore swings, with four coming on the cutter and three on his slider.

His slider was an effective punchout pitch, generating three of his five strikeouts.

Ty Madden entered in relief and finished the shutout with two scoreless innings.

Next up

The series finale between the Tigers and Orioles is at 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday (Detroit SportsNet). Tarik Skubal (7-5, 2.70 ERA) is scheduled to face off against Orioles lefty Trevor Rodgers (6-7, 4.17 ERA). The Tigers have Thursday off before embarking on a nine-game West Coast road trip across three cities, starting with the Athletics in Sacramento on Friday night.

Contact Jared Ramsey at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers' Eduardo Valencia homers twice, Troy Melton shuts down Orioles, 14-0

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