SI

Tigers' Gleyber Torres Leaves Game at Guardians After Awkward Tag to Head

The Detroit second baseman was hurt on an unusual play.

Patrick Andres

Gleyber Torres circles the bases after a home run against the Twins.
Gleyber Torres circles the bases after a home run against the Twins. / David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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On Saturday, Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres drew a walk in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians—only for the next play to result in disaster.

With two outs in the inning, Tigers left fielder Riley Greene bounced a grounder to Guardians second baseman Angel Martinez. Martinez flipped the ball to shortstop Brayan Rocchio—only for Rocchio to fall on Torres elbow-first as he went to the ground.

The freak and seemingly inadvertent tag left Torres lying on his back as Detroit's trainers rushed to attend to him, and a concerned-looking Rocchio standing over the three-time All-Star. Eventually, Torres exited the game and the Tigers reshuffled their lineup.

Torres, 28, signed a $15 million contract with Detroit on Dec. 27.

The deal has paid off handsomely for both sides thus far, as Torres is slashing .279/.385/.424 with nine home runs, 44 RBIs, and 2.3 bWAR. The Tigers are 55-34, and hold the second-best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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