DETROIT -- The seats over Comerica Park’s out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field have some of the best views in the ballpark, giving fans an appreciation of the expansive outfield from 11+ feet up. What the seats don’t normally provide are home runs.

Riley Greene has played enough games already to appreciate how far that is. His 448-foot drive off Shohei Ohtani’s first pitch Sunday would’ve hit the brick wall behind those seats, just under Ernie Harwell’s name, if a fan hadn’t caught it.

It’s the longest home run anyone has hit off Ohtani since he joined the Majors in 2018 -- by 18 feet -- and the longest homer at Comerica Park this season.

For Greene, it was momentum. The leadoff homer not only put the Tigers in position to take their three-game series against the Angels with a 4-0 victory, it set the tone for the kind of turnaround day he’d been working towards.

“It’s momentum, building off each other, just passing down to the next guy,” Greene said. “When someone can come out and get a big hit, I just feel like it gets us going.”

That appreciation of the role makes him an ideal leadoff hitter for this team. Having arguably the best hitting talent on the roster doesn’t hurt. Recent at-bats reflected typical rookie struggles, but his work shows why it’s difficult to discount him.

After a torrid start that included a walk-off drive for his first Major League homer on July 2, Greene entered Sunday batting .211 (40-for-190) with 67 strikeouts since, despite a rising average exit velocity and hard-hit rate each month. His expected metrics dropped even as his hard contact rose. He went 51 plate appearances and 21 strikeouts in between walks before drawing a pass on Wednesday in Cleveland, caught between readiness for a pitch to hit and patience to draw a free pass.

“That’s sort of the inside joke that’s maybe the worst hitting joke in the game: He can walk, and he probably needs to understand that those things are good, too,” manager A.J. Hinch said.

It’s a tricky balance. While Greene is now 11-for-23 with two home runs when he puts the first pitch in play, he’s a .195 hitter after an 0-1 count.

On Sunday, Greene was in sync.

“Me and A.J. always talk before [games],” Greene explained. “I’m like, ‘Hey, should I take? Swing?’

“Today I didn’t talk to him. I was just like, ‘I’m going to do what he’s going to tell me to do: Get a good pitch, and if it’s a good pitch, swing at it.’”

Ohtani’s 94 mph fastball wasn’t over the heart of the plate, but slightly down and in, where he could extend his arms and pull.

“It probably wasn’t a good pitch to swing at,” Greene said, “but I was on time, I was ready for it, and I got it.”

Ohtani was careful the rest of the day with Greene, who took the next 10 pitches for two walks from the AL MVP. Ohtani threw four pitches nowhere near the zone with two on, two out and first base open in the second inning. Greene took two called strikes with two outs in the fourth inning, but once a wild pitch moved Akil Baddoo to second, Ohtani again gave Greene nothing to hit, taking his chances with Victor Reyes. This time, Reyes burned him with a two-run triple for a 3-0 lead.

“The walks were bigger, to be honest,” Greene said. “Just trying to get myself in a spot for the guys to drive me in.”

Ohtani allowed three runs in four innings before leaving with a stomach virus. Greene added a sixth-inning double off Jimmy Herget.

That production supported Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez, whose five scoreless innings with five strikeouts earned a win in his first big league start since May 18. He got more help from Greene when his diving catch in shallow center took a two-out RBI hit from Luis Rengifo in the third.

“It was off the end of the bat,” Greene said. “I kind of turned and took a step back and realized I have to go in. The diving catch made up for it. Maybe I didn’t have to dive for it, but I had to, just to make up for it.”

Said Rodriguez: “He saved me two runs right there. Why do you think I put his hands up? That was really special to see, pretty fun to watch.”