DETROIT -- The Tigers’ nine-game losing streak included four games falling behind in their opponents’ final at-bats. They hadn’t won when trailing by three entering the ninth inning since Rajai Davis’ walk-off grand slam against the A’s on June 30, 2014. They hadn’t won a game of any kind since the end of May, when they were a game out in the AL Central.

All the Tigers had to do Monday night was beat a Braves team that had won seven of eight and had rolled into town sharing the National League’s best record. Having not plated an earned run off Charlie Morton since 2017, Detroit had to rally off a veteran-laden bullpen that included arguably the club’s own best reliever last year, Joe Jiménez. And with a rotation decimated by injuries, the Tigers also had to piece together a bullpen start.

“I think it goes back to what we were feeling 10 games ago: We're never out of it,” Spencer Torkelson said almost matter-of-factly after Monday’s 10th-inning walk-off 6-5 victory.

Maybe the Tigers were due some good fortune after the past couple weeks, from Riley Greene’s leg injury to Alex Lange’s consecutive losses to the Diamondbacks’ ninth-inning rally Sunday. Or maybe Detroit just had to keep faith in its approach through one of its toughest offensive stretches.

As the Tigers celebrated on the field Monday, having rallied from four runs down with four outs to go with help from Torkelson’s tape-measure home run and walk-off single to deep center, it was clear how much of a toll the losing streak had taken, and how much of a relief it was to end it.

“It's huge,” said Torkelson, whose 440-foot drive off the brick wall in left-center field provided the jolt Detroit needed in the ninth. “It wasn't fun. We were kind of going through it for a little bit, but I think every team does. It's 162 games. Can't be perfect the whole 162, so it's just battling out of it and trying to ride the highs as long as possible.”

It was clear how much it meant to manager A.J. Hinch by the way he managed Sunday, going all-in with his bullpen to try to finish off Arizona, knowing how much of a challenge Atlanta would bring. Just when things looked bleakest, a 10-game losing streak in sight for the first time since 2019, Detroit turned in its best rally in nine years.

“I think my heart could’ve used it being a little bit easier than that one,” Hinch said. “But that was a really fun win, and a team win. And that clubhouse needed it.”

Torkelson, whose promising May had dissipated amidst a 5-for-33 start to June, missed RBI chances early in the game. He flied out against Morton with two on and one out in the third inning, popped out against Morton with a runner on second to end the fifth and then struck out with a runner on in the seventh against A.J. Minter. He stepped up after a leadoff single in the ninth against Raisel Iglesias looking for damage, only to refocus.

“Honestly, that first-pitch changeup that he threw me kind of caught me by surprise,” Torkelson said. “It was a really good pitch. And so I kind of dumbed down the approach and was like, 'Don't try to do too much. Take a base hit here.' And sure enough, I got a good pitch to hit. That's what happens when you've got a simple approach, I guess.”

Kerry Carpenter’s single put the tying run on. Nick Maton broke up what would’ve been a game-ending double play, extending the rally for a pair of two-out singles from Matt Vierling and Zack Short to tie it.

Andy Ibáñez, whose seventh-inning homer opened Detroit’s scoring, struck out after Short, but then he threw out Sam Hilliard at the plate in the top of the 10th. All Torkelson needed in the bottom half was a fly ball to drive Ibáñez, the runner at second base, home with one out. Torkelson had to get it off ex-teammate Jimenez.

“He's a great pitcher. He got traded for a reason,” Torkelson said. “He's really good at what he does. I really was just trying not to do too much. Knowing him and knowing his stuff, he likes his fastball so I was on that.”

As Torkelson lifted the ball to center field, he lifted the weight of the losing streak with it. 

“The character of this team is good,” Hinch said. “I know the last 10, 12 days haven’t been great, but we will play until the end. That’s been a characteristic of this team. It came out huge today.”