Greene flirts with cycle as Tigers (4 HRs, 3 3Bs) roll it back to 1906

MINNEAPOLIS -- For a moment on Wednesday, Riley Greene looked like he was about to become part of a Byron Buxton highlight catch reel for a second consecutive night.

The Twins’ Gold Glove center fielder had Greene’s drive to right-center in his sights, and briefly in his outstretched glove. Not again, he thought.

“I wasn’t going to be happy if he caught it,” Greene said. “Whenever a ball’s up in the air, it’s a possibility.”

Buxton couldn’t hold on, and Greene was off and running -- literally and figuratively. Maybe it was a sign that this was his day.

By the time Greene caught his breath as he stepped to the plate for his fourth at-bat, he was a double shy of a cycle. He didn’t get it, grounding out to short, but Greene’s 3-for-4 performance was a catalyst for Detroit’s offensive outburst in a 9-2 series-evening win at Target Field.

“It’s nice to have a day like that,” Greene said, “and it’s nice to get a team win like that.”

It was the latest feat in a breakout season for Greene, whose newfound health and smooth left-handed swing have become the center of the Tigers’ offense. Detroit churned out four homers and three triples in a game for the first time since 1906. Greene was the only Tiger with one of each.

With All-Star rosters being decided over the next several days, it could also be the platform for his strengthening case for a spot in the Midsummer Classic.

“It would be an awesome thing to be able to do,” said Greene, who could become the franchise’s first All-Star outfielder since Justin Upton in 2017. The only Tigers hitter to make an All-Star team since Upton is Miguel Cabrera, who was a Commissioner’s selection in ‘22.

Greene ranks ninth among American Leaguers with 37 extra-base hits. His eight total bases pushed him into the AL’s top 10, tied for eighth with 155 as of Wednesday night.

Once Greene legged out his career-high fifth triple in the first inning to go with 16 doubles and 16 homers, he became the only AL hitter with at least 15 homers, 15 doubles and five triples this season. Only Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz has that combination among National Leaguers.

Greene also entered Wednesday ranked 10th among AL position players with 3.1 bWAR. With Kerry Carpenter injured and Spencer Torkelson at Triple-A Toledo, the 23-year-old Greene is the player opposing teams game plan around as Detroit’s offense wavers between feast and famine. Once Greene got rolling against Twins right-hander David Festa in his second MLB start, Wednesday was going to be the latter.

Yet Greene’s smallest hit might have been the most critical.

After being stranded on third after his first-inning triple, Greene again nearly became victim to a highlight play, this time from former Tiger Willi Castro at second base. But while Castro dove up the middle to stop Greene’s third-inning ground ball, Greene took off down the line, reaching a sprint speed of 29.8 feet per second, just shy of the 30.0 elite threshold and his third-fastest speed of the season.

“Always trying to get out of the box hard,” Greene said. “Always."

By beating Castro’s throw for an infield single to load the bases, Greene kept the inning alive for Carson Kelly’s first career grand slam two pitches later, followed by a Wenceel Pérez solo homer for a 5-0 lead.

“It’s great to see [Greene] hit the ball out of the ballpark. It’s great to see him get the opportunistic triple. But if he doesn’t bust it out of the box and get an infield single, this game could go in an entirely different direction,” manager A.J. Hinch said.

“The way he plays the game and the way he cares makes today’s game even more important.”

Greene put his next ball where no Twins defender could get it, sending Festa’s 3-2 pitch onto the right-field plaza and nearly reaching the parking garage on a bounce. The Statcast-projected 427-foot drive scored Colt Keith for a 7-1 lead.

Former All-Star shortstop Carlos Guillén remains the last Tiger to hit for the cycle, having done so against the Rays on Aug. 1, 2006 at Tropicana Field. Greene hit for a cycle in high school, part of a prolific prep career that prompted the Tigers to select him fifth overall in the 2019 MLB Draft.

But Greene insists he wasn’t thinking about it when he stepped to the plate in the seventh, or when he stood on deck as the ninth inning ended.

“If you think about the cycle, you’re not going to do it,” Greene said. “I feel like a lot of people would say that.”