Riley Greene made one of the best defensive plays of the season Sunday for the Detroit Tigers.
And he has the new wall in center field at Comerica Park to thank.
Greene reached back and robbed Jake Burger of a home run to lead off the eighth inning vs. the Chicago White Sox, crashing back to the warning track with the baseball in the glove on his right hand.
The Tigers before the season moved the fence in 10 feet to make it 412 feet to center from home plate.
The play allowed the Tigers to stay within one run, 5-4. That became important because the Tigers tied the game an inning later.
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Greene laced a one-out triple to right-center field in the ninth inning, with help from questionable defense via Luis Robert Jr., and scored on a groundout to tie the game.
Eric Haase’s sacrifice fly won the game in the 10th inning, 6-5.
The Tigers (25-26) moved within one game of .500 and one game of the American League Central Division lead, as the Minnesota Twins (27-26) lost 3-0 on Sunday to Toronto.
The Tigers squandered a six-inning, one-run start from Eduardo Rodriguez, with the bullpen allowing four runs in the seventh. Spencer Torkelson’s defense at first base did not help the cause.
Akil Baddoo mashed a grand slam in the second inning to give the Tigers an early 4-1 advantage.