Framber Valdez pitched six scoreless innings, Dillon Dingler blasted a two-run homer and the Detroit Tigers blanked the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-0, in their home opener on Friday afternoon.
Valdez (1-0), one of the top free agent signings this offseason, allowed three hits and struck out five batters.
Riley Greene had two hits, a run and an RBI while Javier Baez added two hits and an RBI.
Michael McGreevy (0-1) took the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The Cardinals threatened in the third inning. With two out, Victor Scott II singled to left. Masyn Winn pushed Scott to third with another single but Valdez escaped by inducing Ivan Herrera to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Detroit broke through in the fourth inning. Greene ripped a double into the right-center field gap before Dingler clobbered a sweeper over the left-center field fence for a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Kevin McGonigle legged out a one-out double but was thrown out at third by McGreevy on Gleyber Torres’ fielder’s choice grounder. Justin Bruihl came in to face lefties Kerry Carpenter and Greene but that backfired as both hit singles, which allowed Torres to score to make it 3-0.
The Tigers scored another run in the sixth inning. With two out, George Soriano hit Parker Meadows with a pitch. Meadows advanced to second on a stolen base, then raced home on Baez’s single to left field.
Thomas Saggese led off the top of the seventh with a bloop single off Will Vest. The Tigers right-hander then set down the next three batters.
Detroit had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the inning. Reliever Gordon Graceffo kept St. Louis’ deficit at four runs by inducing a double play grounder from Dingler.
Herrera led off the eighth against Kyle Finnegan with a single and Alec Burleson walked. Finnegan then retired the next three batters to keep the shutout going.
Tyler Holton got the last three outs to complete the shutout.
