DETROIT >> You’ve heard him say it a lot. Everything matters. And if manager AJ Hinch ever needs an abject reference point, he can use the Tigers’ 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the front end of a doubleheader Saturday.

Spencer Torkelson’s opposite-field home run in the seventh inning provided the margin of victory. Casey Mize held a lineup of dangerous left-handed hitters at bay for 5.1 innings with relievers Brenan Hanifee, Tyler Holton and Will Vest locking it down — Vest earning a four-out save punching out Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg to end it.

Those were the headline moments. But the headline would be different without a handful of other smaller moments throughout the game.

“Knowing we had a second game makes it even more rewarding to win the first one,” Hinch said. “I thought in equal parts we were going to break the game open and in equal parts it was like, ‘Oh (crap), they’ve created some leverage for themselves.’

“Winning the first game of a series is always important. But to win it the way we did was good to see.”

To Hinch’s point about blowing the game open: They worked five walks in the first two innings off Orioles’ starter Brandon Young and came out of it with just two runs. They left the bases loaded twice. But with Mize grinding through the Orioles’ lefty-heavy lineup, allowing only a solo homer to Ryan O’Hearn, they were able to weather some trouble.

“I feel like if I can keep the ball on the ground, good things will happen more times than not,” said Mize, who improved to 4-1, lowering his ERA to 2.12. “We made an error on the first batter of the game and then immediately got a double-play. That’s a huge moment for our team.”

Catcher Dillon Dingler got Mize out of that first inning by throwing out Westburg trying to steal second base. Dingler’s pop time to second base was a season-best 1.86 seconds. It was one of a few small ways that Dingler impacted this win.

He kept the Tigers’ two-run second inning alive, first legging out a ground ball and preventing a double-play. Then he avoided getting back-picked off first base on a strong throw by catcher Gary Sanchez, making a deft slide to avoid the tag.

Dingler played a big role in a pivotal defensive play in the sixth inning.

The Orioles, down 3-1 in the sixth, put runners at the corners with back-to-back singles off Mize. The Tigers pulled their infield in and Mize got Heston Kjerstad to hit a ground ball to the right of Torkelson at first base.

Torkelson fielded the ball on the grass and fired home without hesitation. Dingler not only applied a firm tag as the runner Westburg was sliding into him, he also took the throw in textbook position to avoid getting called for blocking the plate.

“It was a good day for Tork on both sides of the ball and that’s so good to see,” Hinch said. “That is an instinctual defensive play where he’s got to read it. We know we’re in a little bit of trouble there. He may go to second, he may just take the out at first. But he read the play, got the hop and goes home to get a pretty good runner.

“That instinctive play is an indication of he’s playing with freedom and the right balance of know-how and execution.”

Hanifee replaced Mize at that point and retired Ramon Urias and Jackson Holliday to escape the inning.

“Tork saves the run where, if he doesn’t, we’d still be playing,” Mize said. “Huge play. We played good defense all around.”

Riley Greene, as he has so often, gave up his body to make a couple of pivotal plays in left field, too. With two on in the second inning, he raced back to the wall to take extra bases away from Jackson Holliday. He hit the wall awkwardly and came off the wall shaking out his left shoulder.

In the seventh, he took a home run away from Ramon Laureano. Again he tracked the ball to the wall. This time he had to leap and extend as he was crashing into the wall. He caught it and caromed hard to the ground.

“I guess we have to put him in center so he can avoid the fence,” Hinch said, half-joking. “The ball finds him and he finds a way to get big outs. I’ll play him in center in Game 2 and it might be a breather for him because there’s not a fence anywhere near him.

“But I love the way he stays in the play.”

Later in the inning, he nearly stole a single from Henderson with a diving attempt in short left.

“That was a good attempt,” Hinch said. “One of the reasons I love Riley in left, it’s not just because it’s not as much to cover as in center, but he’s actually really good in left. He’s got a good feel for where he is and he can get up over the fence.

“He seems to make great plays when it doesn’t seem like a play is possible. And that’s because he sells out from the jump.”

One big blast by Torkelson and a bunch of lower-key clutch plays — including a two-out RBI single by Jace Jung, his first hit since being called up from Toledo — added to another win for the 16-10 Tigers.