- Jahmai Jones, Andy Ibáñez and Gleyber Torres hit back-to-back-to-back home runs off Jesús Luzardo in the second inning.
- The Detroit Tigers won 17-7 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
- The offense overshadowed right-hander Reese Olson. But he was dominant.
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers won 17-7 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. First pitch was delayed by one hour, 22 minutes due to rain.
Detroit is 5-6 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
The Tigers hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on three pitches in a row from Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo for all six runs in the second inning.
First, Jahmai Jones demolished a changeup for a 430-foot grand slam. Then, Andy Ibáñez smacked a slider for a 376-foot solo homer. Finally, Gleyber Torres turned on a sinker for a 372-foot solo shot.
“I bet I have, but I don’t remember it,” manager A.J. Hinch said, when asked if he’s ever seen three homers on three pitches. “It was an explosive day. I’m proud of our group after a rain delay in spring, of all things, to come out and play well.”
All three balls traveled to left-center field, but the swing from Jones sent the ball off the top of the Corona Cabana, just below the scoreboard.
Jones — the leadoff-hitting center fielder — blasted the grand slam with a 112.2 mph exit velocity. He also had a double off Luzardo’s 97 mph fastball in the first inning, producing a 113.8 mph exit velocity.
He finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and one walk, while Ibáñez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
In 2024, Jones hit .302 with an .883 OPS against left-handed pitchers across the MLB and Triple-A levels, including 33 games with the New York Yankees. The 27-year-old could earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, especially if Parker Meadows (right upper arm nerve issue) begins the season on the injured list.
“The biggest thing for me is just taking it day by day, really not trying to get ahead of myself,” Jones said. “There are a lot of good players on this roster, and there are a lot of good players in this camp, so I feel like everyone has a chance.”
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Starting off
The offense overshadowed right-hander Reese Olson.
But he was dominant.
“The stuff was really good,” Hinch said. “He even made a few adjustments with his changeup and got a little bit better as the outing went along.”
Olson, a 25-year-old who is locked in as the Tigers’ No. 3 starter, completed three scoreless innings on one hit and zero walks with four strikeouts, throwing 31 of 47 pitches for strikes.
Facing the Phillies, Olson struck out the side in the first inning, all on swinging third strikes: Gabriel Rincones Jr. (95.7 mph sinker), Nick Castellanos (88.1 mph changeup) and Edmundo Sosa (96.5 mph fastball). He also struck out Óscar Mercado swinging with an 86.9 mph changeup in the third inning.
“That was fun,” Olson said, smiling. “Three punches, it’s pretty cool. I’m just happy with executed pitches. It happened to work out.”
Olson, who used all five of his pitches to both-handed hitters, generated 10 whiffs on 27 swings for a 37% whiff rate, doing so with three sliders, three changeups, one fastball, two sinkers and one curveball.
His fastball averaged 95.2 mph.
At the plate
The Tigers also scored six runs in the third inning, with four runs charged to left-handed reliever Matt Strahm and two runs charged to right-handed reliever Andrew Bechtold.
It started with Javier Báez drawing a walk.
Báez worked the walk by overturning a pitch call using the ABS challenge system, which MLB is testing in spring training but won’t use in the regular season.
“From an ABS standpoint, that inning is so completely different if that’s a strikeout as opposed to a walk that led to a six-run inning,” Hinch said. “It would’ve been two outs and nobody on as opposed to the leadoff walk.”
From there, Justyn-Henry Malloy drove in a run with a single, Ibáñez plated two runs with a single, Riley Greene added a run with a bases-loaded walk, and Báez tacked on two runs with a double.
The Tigers produced three runs in the sixth inning for a 15-3 advantage, highlighted by a two-run home run from Tomás Nido, who projects to be the third-string catcher. Nido hit another home run in the eighth, a two-run homer that increased the Tigers’ lead to 17-4.
On the mound
Right-hander Matt Manning surrendered four runs in the sixth and seventh innings, allowing those runs on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The former top prospect gave up two home runs: a two-run shot to ex-Tiger Buddy Kennedy on a splitter in the sixth and a solo homer to Christian Arroyo on a fastball in the seventh.
Manning threw 39 pitches in the game.
After that, he threw more pitches in the bullpen to simulate a third inning of work.
“I think he’s trying to be a little bit perfect,” Hinch said of Manning, who has walked eight batters in six innings in three games this spring. “He’s been inconsistent, which I know is frustrating for him, but it’s the spring. He’s working on things.”
The Tigers received scoreless innings from right-handed reliever Will Vest in the fifth and left-handed reliever Tyler Holton in the eighth, but right-handed reliever Beau Brieske allowed a three-run home run in the ninth.
Three stars
1. Jones; 2. Ibáñez; 3. Olson.
