Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez tags Pittsburgh Pirates' Alexander Canario (29) out attempting to steal second base as second base umpire David Rackley (86) looks on in the third inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

DETROIT (AP) — Javier Baez hit two of the Detroit Tigers’ four home runs in a 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

Baez hit solo homers in the fifth and seventh innings on the day he reached 10 years of major league service. Wenceel Perez and Riley Greene also homered for Detroit.

Casey Mize (7-2) got the win, allowing three runs — two earned — on five hits in six innings. He struck out four without walking a batter.

Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the second when Spencer Horwitz singled and scored on Adam Frazier’s groundout, but the Tigers scored twice in the bottom of the inning on Perez’s homer.

Alexander Canario’s two-run single put the Pirates back in front 3-2 in the third, but Baez tied the game with a homer in the fifth. Canario replaced Bryan Reynolds in right field in the second inning after his wife went into labor.

Perez gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead with an RBI triple in the sixth and Baez made it a two-run game with a leadoff homer in the seventh. Greene hit a 436-foot home run to right later in the inning, making it 7-3.

Carmen Mlodzinski (1-5) allowed four runs in two innings of relief.

Key moment

After Perez’s third-inning homer, the Tigers put runners on the corners with one out, but Bailey Falter got Parker Meadows to pop out before striking out Gleyber Torres to end the inning.

Key stat

Baez reached his 10-year milestone in career game 1,284. He is hitting .253 with 190 homers, 663 RBIs and 111 stolen bases.

Up next

The teams are scheduled to play the second of three games on Wednesday night, with Detroit ace Tarik Skubal (7-2, 1.99 ERA) facing LHP Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.33).