Dillon Dingler homers twice as Tigers beat Cubs in 10

Dillon Dingler hit two home runs and added the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning ⁠to help the visiting Detroit Tigers survive a comeback by the Chicago Cubs in an 8-6 extra-innings win on Monday night.

Detroit led for essentially the entire game, scoring four times in the first inning, until Ian Happ’s two-run homer off Kyle Finnegan in ​the eighth knotted the score at 5-5.

With runners on the corners and ‌no one ‌out in the 10th, Dingler hit a chopper deep into ​the hole at shortstop and beat the throw to first from Dansby Swanson. Spencer Torkelson added on with a two-run single.

Trent Thornton (3-3) took the loss despite ⁠only facing one hitter in the frame. He exited the game after Riley Greene’s liner hit ⁠him in the left heel, getting replaced by Javier Assad.

Pedro Ramirez got the Cubs one run back after reaching on an RBI ​fielder’s choice in the bottom of the ⁠inning and Swanson singled to bring the winning run to the plate, but Tyler Holton got Carson Kelly to ⁠ground out to ​close out the game.

Dingler — the Tigers’ starting catcher — shined on ​both sides of the plate, starting an inning-ending pickoff play to go ​along ‌with a 4-for-5 night which included three RBIs.

Greene also homered for Detroit, opening the scoring with a three-run blast to right-center. Dingler tacked on with a solo shot to dead center the next at- bat.

In the third, it ‌was Chicago’s turn to hit back-to-back homers. First, Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run shot off Jack Flaherty to cut the deficit in half. Michael Busch followed up with his 13th long ball of the season to make it a one-run game.

A baserunning snafu cost ​Chicago ​a chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth. ​Ian Happ was batting with runners on first and second with two out ⁠when Dingler successfully backpicked Suzuki at second.

Dingler took Tyler Ferguson deep to lead off the eighth, notching his third multi-homer game since June 1.

After Happ’s heroics, the Cubs had the bases loaded with a chance to walk ​it off in the ninth, but Kenley Jansen (2-4) struck out Alex Bregman to escape the jam.

Flaherty allowed three runs on four hits over four innings, striking out four and walking two. Cubs starter Jameson Taillon lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts.