DETROIT — Riley Greene hit a sixth-inning homer and Eduardo Rodriguez pitched eight scoreless innings, helping the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 1-0 on Tuesday night to sweep a doubleheader.
Rodriguez (1-2) allowed four hits, no walks and struck out 10 while matching the longest outing of his career. The left-hander lasted eight innings for the first time since 2017 when he played for the Boston Red Sox.
Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his first save, sealing Detroit's fifth straight win. The Tigers won their previous three games with walk-off hits.
Detroit had a pair of key defensive plays to earn the latest victory. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop made a diving stop up the middle to take a potential single away from pinch-hitter Steven Kwan in the eighth inning with a runner on second. In the fifth, Tigers right fielder Matt Vierling leaped to catch Josh Naylor's drive that cleared the right-field wall.
Cleveland's Peyton Battenfield (0-1) gave up three hits, including Greene's opposite-field homer to left field, and three walks in six innings.
Kerry Carpenter hit a solo home run with two outs in the ninth of the opener, lifting the Tigers to a 4-3 win over the Guardians.
Alex Lange (1-0) earned the afternoon win after allowing one hit and striking out one in the ninth.
James Karinchak (0-3) took the loss in the first game when Carpenter turned on a full-count pitch and sent it soaring over the right-field wall.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on Javier Baez's sacrifice fly in the first inning. Baez's RBI single and Carpenter's run-scoring double in the fifth tied it at 3-3 before Carpenter's third homer of the season gave Detroit the win.
Josh Bell, signed by Cleveland to provide some extra-base pop, hit a game-tying double in the fourth and scored when Oscar Gonzalez hit Boyd's next pitch over the left-field wall to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.
Boyd allowed three runs, five hits and two walks over five innings. Mason Englert pitched three scoreless innings and Lange kept the score tied in the ninth.
Cleveland right-hander Hunter Gaddis allowed three runs and eight hits and a walk over five innings.
Eli Morgan, Nick Sandlin and Karinchak combined for 3 2-3 innings of scoreless relief for the Guardians until Carpenter hit the walk-off homer off a high fastball.
SPARSE ATTENDANCE
The first game, which was added after Monday night's game was postponed because of poor weather conditions, drew a crowd of perhaps 100 people on a blustery afternoon that was 39 degrees with 16 mph winds for the first pitch.
"It actually wasn't horrible," said Carpenter, who had three hits in the opener. "My hands get a little cold all the time in the field, but other than that it was fine."
The crowd was slightly larger and it was several degrees warmer for the second game. The official paid attendance was 10,099
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cleveland shortstop Amed Rosario was out of the lineup with a back injury and his replacement, Tyler Freeman, had a banged-up left shoulder evaluated after the game. Detroit's Spencer Torkelson made contact with Freeman's shoulder when he stole second base in the fourth inning. Freeman, who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus, stayed in the game and finished as the only Guardian to have multiple hits in the first game.
ROSTER MOVES
Cleveland RHP Enyel De Los Santos, who is 1-0 in seven games, was placed on the paternity list and LHP Konnor Pilkington was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to give the team a 27th man for the doubleheader.
UP NEXT
Guardians RHP Cal Quantrill (0-1, 5.74) and Tigers RHP Spencer Turnbull (1-2, 9.00) are the scheduled starters for Wednesday.