LAKELAND, Fla. – Travis Demeritte and Miguel Cabrera pulled off a rare feat Thursday, hitting back-to-back home runs on back-to-back pitches in back-to-back innings against Gerrit Cole, perhaps the best pitcher in the world.
Demeritte, who clubbed a pair of home runs Monday, hit a two-run blast to left field in the top of the first inning after Victor Reyes began the game with a double. Cabrera followed with a mammoth shot to left-center.
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The very next inning, Demeritte hit another two-run shot that just cleared the fence in straightaway center field. Cabrera took the following pitch about 20 feet farther to the right for his second home run.
Two innings, two players, four home runs. It’s only spring training, but it’s promising to see Demeritte, one of the Tigers’ young outfielders, and Cabrera, hoping for a bounce back season, dominate a pitcher as good as Cole.
Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million deal with the New York Yankees during the off-season. He shut the Tigers out for 2.2 innings Saturday, but was tagged for six runs in just two innings Thursday.
Top prospect Casey Mize got the start for Detroit and allowed just one base runner in two scoreless innings.
Here’s video of all four home runs:
So uhhh... Gerrit Cole is getting shelled right now 😨 pic.twitter.com/0KuTWllhbV
— Kyle ⚾️ (@KyleNYY) March 5, 2020
So Gerrit Cole's day got worse, but he's still not as bad as these Tigers camera operators pic.twitter.com/Kbl1ffwxWt
— Kyle ⚾️ (@KyleNYY) March 5, 2020