It’s approximately 60 miles between Toledo’s Fifth Third Field and Detroit’s Comerica Park. With each swing of his bat, Riley Greene inches that much closer to a future home in Motown.
MLB’s No. 7 overall prospect hit his first Triple-A homer, tallied three hits and tied his career high with five RBIs as Triple-A Toledo rallied for a 9-8 win over visiting Indianapolis on Sunday.
Greene has hit safely in five of six games since his promotion to the Mud Hens, tallying two extra-base hits and six RBIs in 24 at-bats.
Nestled in the third spot of Toledo’s lineup, the 20-year-old kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run shot into the first row of seats in the second deck beyond the right-field fence. Greene laced a two-run single to right in the second and helped edge the Mud Hens closer by bringing home another run with a base hit in the seventh.
It was the third time this season and the fourth time in his career Greene has collected five RBIs in a game.
The first-inning roundtripper came in Greene’s 20th Triple-A at-bat, continuing a power surge that has seen Detroit’s second-ranked prospect slug seven of his 17 home runs this month. The first six came during a seven-game span from Aug. 7-14 with Double-A Erie, putting an exclamation point on his tenure with the SeaWolves.
Greene ended his time in Erie with 37 extra-base hits, 16 home runs, 54 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a .298/.381/.525 slash line 84 games. Consistency has been a staple for the Orlando, Fla., native who entered August batting .276. However, Greene has kicked his offense into another gear this month, going 30-for-82 (.369) with 13 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs.