El Mago caps off magical 2-homer night with 3-run walk-off blast in 11th
DETROIT — While Tigers fans relished in another night of booing Alex Bregman, the free agent Detroit nearly signed, the last big-name free agent they signed to a long-term deal continued his resurgent season. Javier Báez delivered in the clutch again with a pair of three-run home runs, capped by a walk-off drive in the 11th, powering the Tigers to a 10-9 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.
Báez can relate a bit to Bregman, having received his occasional share of boos in Detroit over his previous couple seasons. Unlike Bregman, the boos for Báez came from the home crowd, after the shortstop signed a six-year contract to join the Tigers after the 2021 season. But Tigers fans have come around to embrace El Mago, his turnaround and his position shift to center field.
https://www.mlb.com/stories?autoplay=false&ec=none&s=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fstories%2Fgame%2F777940%3Fap%3D1%26storylocal%3Darticle-embed&standalone=1
The Tigers led four times in regulation in the back-and-forth affair, only to see the Red Sox rally five times on a night Detroit reprised its pitching chaos strategy from last postseason. Báez provided one of the leads with a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth. He played hero again five innings later after Kristian Campbell’s home run in the top of the inning gave Boston a 9-7 lead.
With runners at the corners and nobody out following Jace Jung’s single, Báez got a sweeper from Greg Weissert in nearly the exact same spot as the Garrett Whitlock slider he hit out in the sixth. Báez sent Weissert’s offering into the left-field seats.
May 13, 2025
· Javier Báez’s three-run home run (4)
Of all the statistics behind Báez’s resurgence, the most startling might be his performance in the clutch: He’s 14-for-33 with three homers and 24 RBIs with runners in scoring position.
Did you like this story?
Senior Reporter Jason Beck has covered the Tigers for MLB.com since 2002.
