Detroit >> What the Cubs did on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, that’s what they do. It’s what they’ve done all season and it’s a big reason why they are tied with the Mets for the best record in the National League.

They mash.

They came into the game leading baseball in runs scored (360) and runs driven in (345) and were fifth in home runs (85).

And that was after Tarik Skubal and Will Vest held them in check Friday night.

It wasn’t likely they’d be so quiet again. And they weren’t.

The Cubs slugged five home runs and rode a brilliant pitching performance by Jameson Taillon to a series-evening 6-1 win over the Tigers before another packed house (41,034).

“We came in with a plan and we stuck to the plan,” said Keider Montero, speaking through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “And we fulfilled the goal that was asked, which was to attack the zone, be in the zone. But I tip my cap to their offense because they made good contact and went deep.

“Either they were looking for those pitches or it was just coincidence, but they were hitting them.”

Manager AJ Hinch deployed lefty Tyler Holton to open ahead of righty Montero and the strategy did what it was intended to do. Holton was able to get lefty-swingers Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, plus switch-hitter Ian Happ, who hits less from the right side of the plate, out.

The one snag, Holton left a 3-2 changeup over the plate to righty Seiya Suzuki and he lined it over the left-field fence for his 15th homer. That seemed to set the tone for the day — on two fronts. One, the homer bus was rolling, and two, the Cubs were attacking secondary pitches. Suzuki hit No. 16 in the eighth inning on a sweeper from reliever Chase Lee.

Montero allowed five hits over the next 5 1/3 innings. Three of them left the yard.

Michael Busch (10) hit a two-run shot in the fifth on a first-pitch changeup. Crow-Armstrong (17) and Matt Shaw (two) both homered in the seventh, Crow-Armstrong off a knuckle-curve and Shaw off a slider.

“They ambushed him in terms of swinging the bat early,” Hinch said. “They are a high-contact team and they have power and all five homers were off secondary pitches. They did the opposite of what we did. They were on at least one speed of pitches and we couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark.

“They say the solo home run can’t beat you. It can when you give up a bunch of them.”

But a first-pitch changeup? Busch’s homer was a clear window into the Cubs’ plan. Both Montero and catcher Jake Rogers fully expected a first-pitch take and a called strike.

“I was very surprised,” Montero said. “We didn’t think they’d be looking for a pitch like that. I thought I made a good location with it but I was surprised he was looking for it.”

Asked about calling for the changeup, Rogers was still kicking himself.

“I hated it,” he said. “As soon as I called it, I hated it. I think I helped them out. I shouldn’t have (called) that pitch. That’s probably the one pitch I regret all day and I told Keider that.”

There was logic behind it, though. The Cubs were aggressive and swinging early. It felt like they could steal a strike with a changeup. Except on this day, the Cubs were committed to attacking off-speed pitches early and often.

“I thought changeup down and away would be good,” Rogers said. “It came back over a little bit but it was middle down. He made a good pitch, changeup down. But it was a bad pitch call.”

Meanwhile, Taillon had the Tigers’ hitters in the proverbial rocking chair — rocking back and forth against his four-seam fastball and changeup and never connecting much with either. He allowed just three hits in seven innings.

“He pitched a good game,” Spencer Torkelson said. “He made really quality pitches for the most part. His mistakes were few and far between and we missed them.”

Taillon got five whiffs on 17 fastballs, seven whiffs on 14 changeups. The Tigers put 19 balls in play against him with a meek average exit velocity of 83.8 mph. He got through his seven innings in an economical 84 pitches.

Asked if he thought his hitters were impatient, Hinch said, “I don’t think it was impatience. I think we just got beat by both pitches. We didn’t get to the fastball and we didn’t wait on the changeup. He had us on both sides of the spectrum. He’s a veteran guy and he kept pounding that sequence.”

Taillon struck out five, and three of those were Riley Greene. Greene struck out in all four of his at-bats and had six swings and misses. Greene has struck out 88 times this season, most in baseball.

“He’s swinging and missing on pitches he’s taking really big swings on,” Hinch said. “I didn’t talk to him after the game. We’ll leave him alone for 24 hours and let him come back ready to hit in the middle of our order tomorrow. He has these stretches. Sometimes it’s about (pitch) selection. Sometimes it’s about approach.

“He will be back in there tomorrow and he’ll be just fine.”

The lone run came on the swift legs of Zach McKinstry. He legged out a triple on a liner into the right-field corner in the fifth and he beat the throw home from third baseman Shaw on a high bouncer by Rogers.

Since scoring 13 runs against the White Sox on Monday, the Tigers have managed 12 in the last five games combined.

“Baseball is a game of adjustments and we tried to make adjustments against Taillon,” Torkelson said. “Didn’t work. We missed some good pitches when we got them but we didn’t get too many. He’s a good pitcher and sometimes you are going to get beat.”

The Tigers (42-24) are sending Jack Flaherty to the mound in the series finale Sunday.