DETROIT -- J.D. Martinez watched his first-pitch drive off Collin McHugh head deep to left field and hoped for the best. It wasn't a crushing blow to him to see it turn foul.
"Really, surprisingly, it wasn't," he said after the Tigers' 6-2 win on Friday. "Usually they are. I hit it and I was like, 'Whoo, that felt good.' I thought it was going to be able to stay fair. But I still had that I've-still-got-him feeling."
Martinez did. All he needed was the next pitch to get him. His go-ahead three-run homer cam on a completely different pitch, and a different swing, but it demonstrated the approach that has allowed him to not only follow up his breakout 2014 season, but for now, fill the cleanup void left by Victor Martinez.