Tigers 9, Nationals 2: Malgeri's Night and Ryan's First Tigers Innings

No. 53 on the day the park got a new name

September 21, 2026 - Detroit - The Tigers announced that Comerica Park will be Fifth Third Park next season. Hours later, the guy wearing 53 had the night. Ben Malgeri dove for a 108 mph liner in the first, doubled off the left-field fence in the same inning, and hit a three-run homer in the fifth. The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Nationals 9-2.

Partly cloudy. 60 degrees. Wind 11 mph left to right. First pitch 6:40 p.m. Attendance 21,121. The game lasted 2 hours, 19 minutes. Detroit had 12 hits, six doubles, and three homers. Washington had five hits and one homer, late, after the game had already left.

The MLB recap tied the naming announcement to Fifth Third Bank's merger with Comerica. Malgeri was not part of the ceremony. He still got the spotlight. He was called up from Triple-A Toledo in June after a hot stretch at Fifth Third Field. He has worn 53 since he arrived. He did not wear it in Toledo.

"I didn't really think of that," Malgeri said when the recap pointed at the 53-on-Fifth-Third coincidence. "Now that you put that idea out there, yeah, maybe I should go for that."

Ryan's first inning, and the catch that saved it

River Ryan made his Tigers debut. The MLB recap said it was his first major league outing since 2024, and that he had just met many of his new teammates on Monday. He threw three scoreless innings: two hits, one walk, three strikeouts, 43 pitches. The recap had him at 98 mph with the fastball and a curveball at 3,000 rpm.

The first inning could have been extra bases. Abimelec Ortiz hit that 108 mph line drive into the right-field gap. Malgeri ran, then dove. The recap said his jump made the difference.

"It's one of those you're just running hard after," Malgeri said. "Last second, I realized I can dive for it and have a chance. It just ended up working out."

Ryan pointed at him before he reached the dugout. "Unbelievable play," Ryan said. "I thought it was going to be in the gap for sure, but he made a really, really nice catch."

Detroit scored before Ryan had to protect much. Gleyber Torres walked. Hao-Yu Lee hit a ground-rule double to right-center, Torres scoring. 1-0. Eduardo Valencia lined a single to left, Lee scoring, James Wood kicking it for an error. 2-0. Malgeri doubled off the fence in that same first inning. The Tigers had three hits and two runs before DJ Herz recorded three outs.

Herz (0-1) lasted four innings: five hits, four earned, two walks, four strikeouts, 63 pitches. The fourth finished him as a competitive start. Dillon Dingler reached. Javier Báez hit his third homer, a fly to left, Dingler scoring with him. 4-0.

Two hanging pitches in the fifth

Luis Perales inherited a 4-0 game and turned it into a 9-0 game in two innings. Five hits. Five earned. Two walks. Two strikeouts. Two homers. Forty-seven pitches.

The fifth was the inning. Riley Greene reached. Valencia reached. Malgeri saw back-to-back splitters. He fouled the first. The second hung. He hit it to left for his fourth homer, his first since a two-homer game on August 14. Greene scored. Valencia scored. 7-0.

Two batters later, Spencer Torkelson hit his 25th, also to left, Dingler scoring with him. 9-0. Two swings, five runs, and Washington was playing out the string.

Lee finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Valencia went 3-for-4 with two doubles. Dingler went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs. Malgeri went 2-for-4 with the homer, the double, and three RBI. Torkelson was 1-for-4 with the two-run shot. Báez was 1-for-2 with the two-run shot and a walk. John Peck went 0-for-4. The bottom of the order did not need to add a fourth homer.

Seven scoreless, then Morales's third

Keider Montero (10-9) took over after Ryan and threw four scoreless: one hit, one walk, five strikeouts, 58 pitches. Combined with Ryan, Detroit's first seven innings were zeros. Josiah Gray threw two scoreless for Washington after the damage, two hits, one strikeout. That was the only Nationals pitching that looked like a big league night.

Drew Sommers allowed the only Washington runs in the eighth. Wood singled. Yohandy Morales hit his third homer, a fly to right, Wood scoring. 9-2. Morales was 1-for-1. Wood was 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Jacob Young went 2-for-3 with a double. Dylan Crews was 1-for-3 with a walk. CJ Abrams went 0-for-3. Brady House went 0-for-4. Washington struck out 11 and left five on.

Beau Brieske threw a 1-2-3 ninth, one strikeout, nine pitches. Detroit struck out seven and walked four. The Tigers left six on and still scored nine, which is what happens when three balls leave the yard and the first inning already has two across.

Manager A.J. Hinch, on Malgeri, per the MLB recap: "Of all the young guys, he's probably gotten the least amount of runway. We're playing him in a role that you can see him moving forward as the right-handed part of an outfield play, moving around, playing both corners. I haven't played him in center much, but I would."

Hinch also said Malgeri is engaged on the days he sits, and that he will play again Tuesday. "I want that guy to get rewarded. I want him to feel good leaving the ballpark. Your team wins, you get a couple hits, you hit the ball out of the ballpark, get a couple runs batted in. That's a pretty good day at the ballpark."

The recap said Malgeri was an 18th-round pick out of Northeastern in 2021 and was never a ranked Tigers prospect. He owns a .781 OPS at the park that will soon share a name with the Triple-A field where he earned the call. "Since I got here, I've worn 53, and I've just been rocking with it," he said. "I don't mind it. It's a unique number. Now, it's even more reason to stick with it."

74-83, and a debut that held

Detroit is 74-83. Washington is 73-84. Monday was not a race game. It was a look at the pieces Detroit is still trying on: Ryan's first three innings in a Tigers uniform, Malgeri's fourth homer, Lee's two doubles, Valencia's three hits. The Nationals got Morales's third in the eighth and nothing that threatened the first seven innings.

Ryan smiled at a diving catch. Malgeri hit the hanging splitter. Montero finished the zeros. That is a 9-2 in late September when the park is about to change names and the outfielder in 53 already has a story for it.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Detroit at 19 team fantasy points, first on the three-game Monday slate. Montero had 17 pitching FP. Ryan had 9. Malgeri had 9 hitting FP. Báez and Lee each had 7. Washington finished at minus-6.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*