Dillon Dingler hits first MLB home run in Detroit Tigers' 5-4 win over Giants

Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler unloaded on a middle-middle fastball.

The 25-year-old, a prospect playing in the seventh game of his MLB career, received a first-pitch fastball from right-hander Hayden Birdsong in the second inning of Sunday's game. It wouldn't have been a home run at Comerica Park in Detroit, but at Oracle Park in San Francisco, the ball traveled over the center-field wall for a two-run home run, just to the right of straightway center.

The ball landed in the Tigers' bullpen, where all the relievers celebrated while Dingler pointed to them after his first MLB home run.

The Tigers also celebrated with a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a three-game series at Oracle Park, snapping a three-game losing streak.

"Really cool moment for that young guy," manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in San Francisco, when asked about Dingler's milestone homer. "He did really good things behind the plate, too."

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Although the Giants tried to mount a comeback, the Tigers kept them from scoring in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

The Tigers (56-63) completed their six-game West Coast trip with a 3-3 record, winning two of three against the Seattle Mariners and losing two of three against the Giants.

The home run from Dingler, which traveled 406 feet, gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead over the Giants in the second inning. After that, the Tigers refused to squander the lead.

Right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee and right-handed reliever Will Vest worked around runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. In the eighth, Matt Chapman — a third baseman who signed a short-term contract with the Giants last offseason — hit a leadoff triple but got caught in a rundown between third base and home plate on an ensuing groundout to shortstop.

"We'll take the outs when we can get them," Hinch said. "Obviously, it was a huge turnaround after the leadoff triple. ... I'm encouraged with the way we finished. It was a good game. It was a good road trip, despite the games we always dwell on, which are the ones that got away. But I'm proud of the group for coming in today and getting us a happy flight home."

Mixed results from starter

Right-hander Keider Montero, a 24-year-old rookie making his 10th appearance for the Tigers, is one of two starting pitchers in the rotation, along with Tarik Skubal.

Montero allowed four runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts Sunday. He still managed to take down five innings, an important feat for a team that relies solely on its 13 relievers in three of every five games.

The Giants scored two runs in the first inning and two in the sixth. In the first, Chapman swatted a sinker into center field for a two-run single with the bases loaded to put the Giants ahead, 2-1.

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Montero worked out of a jam in the second inning, striking out Heliot Ramos with an elevated fastball to strand runners on the corners. He settled in with quick innings in the third, fourth and fifth before running into trouble in the sixth inning.

Michael Conforto ripped a two-strike slider that hung for a triple to center field. He scored on Chapman's RBI single, cutting the Tigers' lead to 5-3.

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The second of three big hits from Chapman chased Montero from his start, replaced by left-handed reliever Tyler Holton. But Holton walked a batter, induced a double play and then surrendered an RBI double to Jerar Encarnacion, making it 5-4.

Those runs were charged to Montero's tab.

He threw 85 pitches, generated just six whiffs on 39 swings — a below-average 15.4% whiff rate — with two fastballs, one slider, one changeup and two curveballs. Too often, Montero failed to locate his breaking balls at the bottom and below the strike zone.

Matt Vierling hits for extra bases

Aside from Dingler's home run, the Tigers also scored in the first and fifth innings with Vierling leading the way.

Vierling, who hadn't played since Thursday with low back spasms, turned on a middle-middle slider from Birdsong for a leadoff home run to left-center field in the first inning, taking a 1-0 advantage.

He continues to build on his career high with 14 home runs in 105 games.

Vierling added an RBI double — his 20th two-bagger of the season — for a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning, followed by a two-out single from Colt Keith for a 5-2 margin.

Vierling is hitting .256 with a .738 OPS this season.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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