Tigers end 9-game slide, beat Braves on Torkelson's walk-off hit in 10th inning

Detroit – It was nice to hear the music pumping in the Tigers’ clubhouse again. It had been a minute.

“It’s fun to be around here,” said Andy Ibanez, speaking through the club’s bilingual interpreter Carlos Guillen. “Just because of all the hard work everybody is putting in and the kind of environment we have here.

“This is going to be the beginning. This is just going to be the beginning for something good. Because everybody is playing a part in making this team better. It’s going to happen.”

Ibanez, who has ridden the rapids as much as any player in the clubhouse this season, walked, singled, doubled, homered and threw out a runner at the plate in the Tigers’ dramatic 6-5 win over the N.L. East-leading Atlanta Braves Monday night, snapping the nine-game losing streak.

“Thank God,” he said. “It is a privilege to be here and I am thankful and grateful for the all the support I’ve received from my teammates and my coaches.”  

In the locker next to him was another hero. Spencer Torkelson’s 440-foot, two-run home run to the bricks in left-center ignited a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth that sent the game to extra innings. Then he walked it off with a long single to center off former Tiger Joe Jimenez in the bottom of the 10th.

“It goes back to what we were feeling 10 games ago – that we’re never out of it,” Torkelson said. “Our pitching staff did a great job keeping us in there, we made a couple of big defensive plays to stay in it and then we just chipped away.”

With the Tigers down 5-2 in the ninth, Torkelson hit the home run off right-hander Raisel Iglesias. He saw two straight changeups but still was right on time to whack the 95-mph sinker that was up and in on him.

“That first-pitch changeup caught me by surprise,” Torkelson said. “That was a really good pitch, so I kind of dumbed down my approach and didn’t try to do too much. Like, just take a base hit. But I got a good pitch to hit. That’s what happens when you’ve got a simple approach, I guess.”

The Tigers kept chipping away at Iglesias. With one out and a runner on first, Nick Maton hit a ground ball to second base. It looked like it might be a game-ending double-play. But Maton busted it out of the box and beat the throw.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 6, Braves 5 (10)

After Matt Vierling, playing in his first game off the injured list, singled to keep the inning alive, Zack Short, who had an RBI single in the eighth inning, came up clutch again, knocking in the tying run with a single to left.

“The last 10 days have not been great but we will play to the end,” manager AJ Hinch said. “That’s been the character of this team. And that came up huge tonight. Shorty with the big hit. Ibanez with the big throw. Nick running the ball out. Tork with the big swings.

“There was a lot that went on that showed the resolve of this team.”

Ibanez, an infielder by trade, got a rare start in left field. In the top of the 10th, with the free runner on third base, he caught a fly ball by Eddie Rosario 238 feet away from home plate. And he caught it flat-footed.

But he got a strong throw off quickly and accurately on one hop to catcher Jake Rogers, who applied the tag on pinch-runner Sam Hilliard, ending the inning.

“He was clearly out,” Hinch said, laughing.

The Braves challenged the call and the play was close, too close to overturn the call.

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“Andy got rid of it very quickly,” Hinch said. “When you have an infielder playing outfield, they’re really good at getting rid of the ball. That was as quick a transfer has you’re going to see. He looked a lot more out on the first view than he did when they started slowing it down on the big board.”

That set the stage for Torkelson’s winning blast in the bottom of the 10th. Ibanez, the free runner, went to third on a bunt single by Rogers. Torkelson, after fouling off a first-pitch fastball (96 mph) from Jimenez, jumped on a second 96-mph fastball, this one was up and above the zone and hit it over the pinched-in outfield.

The celebration was on.

“Huge,” Torkelson said. “It wasn’t fun (nine straight losses). We were kind of going through it for a bit. But I think every team does. It’s 162 games. You can’t be perfect the whole 162. It’s just about battling out of it and trying to ride the highs as long as possible.”

Coming into the game, Torkelson was hitting just .210 and slugging .290 with runners in scoring position. He’d knocked in 16 runs in 78 plate appearances in those situations.

“He stayed with his approach,” Hinch said. “He’s got a calm heartbeat. He expects to do well and he’s hard on himself when he doesn’t.”

According to ESPN Sports and Information, the Tigers had gone 247 straight home games without coming back to win after being down three runs in the ninth. The last time it happened was June 30, 2014 when Rajai Davis hit a walk-off grand slam.

“It was a really fun win, a team win,” Hinch said. “This clubhouse needed it. You saw the celebration on the field. There was a lot of chipping away, a lot of guys had to do something positive. This was a good win.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky