Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora removed right-hander Cooper Criswell with a perfect game intact through four innings against the Detroit Tigers in Sunday's series finale.

The decision backfired.

Home runs from Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene blasted the Tigers to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox, as Detroit won the final two games in the three-game series at Comerica Park. The two-run homer from Torkelson in the fifth inning, also the first hit of the game for the Tigers, provided all the runs necessary to take down the Red Sox.

The Tigers (70-68) are 4½ games out of the final spot in the American League wild-card race, with 24 games remaining.

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Before Torkelson's home run, Criswell had retired all 12 batters he faced through four innings. The Red Sox, though, pulled Criswell with Kerry Carpenter, a left-handed hitter who crushes righties, due up to begin the fifth inning.

Rich Hill, a 44-year-old lefty recently signed for his 20th MLB season, replaced Criswell for the favorable left-on-left matchup against Carpenter, only for Carpenter to walk on 12 pitches.

With one out, Torkelson — a right-handed hitter — pulled a hanging curveball from the Michigan alumnus for a two-run home run to left field. The homer put the Tigers ahead, 2-1.

It was Torkelson's fourth homer in 15 games, spanning 59 plate appearances, since returning from Triple-A Toledo in August after a nearly two-month demotion. The 25-year-old has eight homers in 69 games in 2024, his third MLB season.

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In the sixth inning, the Tigers increased their lead to 4-1 when Riley Greene smoked a two-run home run to right field. The 23-year-old turned on a middle-in cutter from right-handed reliever Zack Kelly, hitting the ball down the line with a 114 mph exit velocity.

It was Greene's 20th homer in 113 games in 2024, also his third MLB season. He reached the 20-homer milestone for the first time in his career, following five homers in 93 games in 2022 and 11 homers in 99 games in 2023.

The Tigers only had five baserunners through five innings, but four of them scored.

They also finished with just three hits and one walk.

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Brant Hurter delivers

Left-hander Brant Hurter didn't start, but he thrived again in a bulk reliever role after right-handed reliever Beau Brieske recorded the first four outs.

Hurter, who turns 26 later this week, allowed one run on six hits and zero walks with five strikeouts across five innings, throwing 80 pitches. He continued to shred left-handed hitters, except for Jarren Duran in the fifth inning.

There were two strikeouts to open the fifth, but Romy Gonzalez and Nick Sogard — a pair of right-handed hitters — reached safely with singles. After that, Duran sawed-off an inside sinker and shot the ball the other way for an RBI single and a 1-0 Boston lead.

But the Tigers supported Hurter with big swings from Torkelson and Greene in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Since joining the Tigers, Hurter owns a 3.25 ERA with three walks and 26 strikeouts across 27⅔ innings in six games in his MLB career. In Sunday's appearance, Hurter generated four whiffs on 12 swings against his sweeper.

Finishing the win

Right-handed reliever Will Vest cleaned up for Hurter in the seventh inning, stranding an inherited runner with back-to-back outs. He returned for the eighth inning and shut down all three batters.

Vest fell behind in the count to Rafael Devers with three balls in a row to begin the two-out matchup, but he battled back for three strikes in a row with three fastballs in a row.

Devers struck out swinging to end the inning.

Right-handed reliever Jason Foley threw a scoreless ninth inning for his 20th save of the season.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers get timely HRs from Tork, Greene in 4-1 win vs. Boston