WASHINGTON (AP) — The Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals game was postponed Tuesday because of rain and rescheduled as a doubleheader on Wednesday.
The games are scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and previously scheduled 6:45 p.m.
DETROIT ― The last time the Tigers played on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” was Aug. 18, 2024. By that point, they already had been sellers at the trade deadline, and they entered the “Little League Classic” game against the New York Yankees in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with a 60-64 record and still buried in the playoff chase.
Before that game, ESPN’s longtime baseball insider, Buster Olney, talked to The Detroit News about the need for the team to build for the future.
Like everyone else, he didn’t expect a bright future to come so quickly.
“You can run back my quotes, and I told you they would go on to to be the best team in baseball. You don’t have those at the ready? I can refresh your memory on how I predicted everything like this,” Olney said with a laugh this week.
“Really, it’s amazing. It’s just astonishing.”
The Tigers won that game last August against the Yankees, 3-2 on a walk-off, and went on to make a stunning trip to the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in the wild-card round before falling to the Cleveland Guardians in five games in the American League Division Series.
Starting with that win, the Tigers a major-league best 78-44 (after Saturday’s 10-5 win over the Minnesota Twins), including 52-32 this season, as they lead the AL Central by a whopping 10.5 games.
Olney spoke to The News again this week, about what’s transpired and about the road ahead for the Tigers, who are among the World Series favorites just past the halfway point of the season. Here are the highlights of our conversation, ahead of the Tigers’ first appearance on “Sunday Night Baseball” since that thriller of a game last August, with some light editing for clarity and brevity:
Question: How did the Tigers get here?
Answer: It’s neat to see, and you start with (Tarik) Skubal, and he’s become this aircraft carrier that every team would love to have at the front of the rotation. The surprising thing is the offense. Earlier in the year, I was texting with AJ (Hinch, Tigers manager) and I just mentioned to him, I kind of wondered if they would have trouble scoring runs, and he said, ‘No, we’re going to hit.’ … (That was even) after they had some injuries in spring training, especially with their outfielders, it’s impressive what they’ve built.
Q: So you didn’t see this coming in 2025, even after how 2024 finished?
A: I think when they we went into spring training and they asked for our picks, I think … I might’ve picked Kansas City to win. (ESPN’s baseball-writing staff went with Kansas City, by a slim margin over Detroit.) I definitely did not think of the Tigers as a juggernaut, especially following those injuries in spring training. … I was wrong about the Tigers last August, and I was wrong about the Tigers before the year started. They just keep on surprising.
Q: What do you make of the Javier Báez resurgence? He could start the All-Star Game?
A: I thought for sure at the time they called up the guys (in August 2024) … I thought for sure he was going to get released. It only made sense at the time that they would just say, ‘You know what, it hasn’t worked out. We’ll eat the money and move on and focus on developing younger players,’ because it was so bad. … It makes me happy that you have stories like this in baseball, because he goes from where he was last August (placed on the injured list shortly after the Yankees series, and done for the year with a hip injury), and now he’s one of the top vote-getters (among AL outfielders). Who would’ve guessed that? Isn’t that crazy? Who knows what Aaron Boone (Yankees manager, and the AL manager) is gonna do … but can you imagine if we get to the All-Star Game and there are four Tigers starters (Skubal, Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Báez)? That would be a stunner.
Q: The big talk here is, what do the Tigers do at the trade deadline next month?
A: On the face, because I think they’re sitting in such a great position, there’s nothing that Scott (Harris, Tigers’ president) has to do. They’ll run away with the division. I think if you were to draw up a spectrum of which teams are run through gut feel, Scott probably leans more toward the analytics side, which would suggest that they would be less likely to do something, because they don’t have to. However, in some respects, I think the answer to your question was the winter time, when they pursued Alex Bregman. You do wonder if in some form and fashion, with the Red Sox so absolutely going in the tank (since trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants), if that all of a sudden it becomes more of a reality (that they’d trade Bregman, too). … And why not go to the team with the best record in the American League and play for your former manager (Hinch, who managed Bregman in Houston).
Q: Bregman signed a three-year contract for $120 million with the Red Sox, and he can opt out after 2025. Hard to believe the Tigers would give up a ton for a guy who can opt-out, unless there are assurances he’ll stay in Detroit beyond the end of 2025.
A: Everyone would have to understand … that he was going to opt out at the end of the year. And that would be tough (to make a trade), but I think the Tigers are so good and it’s been so long since they won a World Series, maybe that’s one of the deals they make. … Remember the Cubs in 2016 when they were run by an analytically driven front office and they’re the team that made the choice, ‘You know what, we need a finishing piece. (Closer) Aroldis Chapman. Let’s go get him.’ They wouldn’t have won the World Series that year without Chapman.
Q: And, interestingly, the Red Sox have Chapman, too, and the Tigers need relief help.
A: Maybe you do a two-for one.
Q: If there’s one team that could run down the Tigers in the AL Central, who is it?
A: It’s funny; I’m ready to put the pin in the division race, because Cleveland has struggled so badly offensively, and Kansas City’s offense is a mess. Kansas City, there’s a chance they follow the model of the Tigers last year and they trade a Seth Lugo, and the way (Jack) Flaherty was moved, and they begin to spin it forward a little bit. And the Twins … they kind of go as those big three go, with (Royce) Lewis, (Carlos) Correa and (Byron) Buxton. … If I’m going to choose one of those three teams, it’s Cleveland, but I don’t think they’re close.
Q: How do the Tigers stack up in the American League?
A: Tampa Bay, they are the freight train that’s coming in the American League. … They looked good against (the Tigers, taking two of three recently). … They look like they’re going to be the toughest out for the Tigers.
Q: Let’s look toward the World Series. The National League seems so much better than the AL this season. Is the champion coming from the NL?
A: It’s significantly better and it has a lot more depth, but I would say if your rotation starts with Skubal and you have Flaherty with his experience in the postseason at No. 2, that’s pretty good. I don’t think there’s any question the (NL) is better, but in an individual series, I can’t rule out either Tampa Bay or the Tigers. … I think the Yankees would have a really tough time in a (seven-game) series. … That’s the advantage (the Tigers have) when you have the best pitcher on the planet.
Q: Skubal (who starts Sunday night, as he did or the Tigers-Yankees Sunday-night game last August), that’s the elephant in the room. He’s under contract through the end of 2026, and nobody believes the Tigers can pay the suggested $400 million it might cost to keep him.
A: I would agree with you. … Enjoy the time you have left together.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dave Parker, a hard-hitting outfielder who was set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next month, has died, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced Saturday. He was 74.
No further details about Parker’s death were immediately available. The Pirates informed the crowd of his death just before the start of their game against the New York Mets and held a moment of silence.
Nicknamed “the Cobra,” the 6-foot-5 Parker made his major league debut in 1973 and played 19 seasons, 11 for the Pirates. He was the NL MVP in 1978, won a World Series with Pittsburgh a year later and then won another championship in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics.
“All of us who grew up in the ’70s remember how special Dave was,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement. “He had a big personality and his passing has left a bigger void for all who knew him. Our hearts go out to his wife, Kellye, and his family.”
Parker won NL batting titles in 1977 and ’78. He finished his career as a .290 hitter with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs. He also played for Cincinnati, Milwaukee, the California Angels and Toronto.
Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame by a special committee in December. The induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, is set for July 27.
“We join the baseball family in remembering Dave Parker. His legacy will be one of courage and leadership, matched only by his outstanding accomplishments on the field,” Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. “His election to the Hall of Fame in December brought great joy to him, his family and all the fans who marveled at his remarkable abilities.”
Born on June 9, 1951 in Grenada, Mississippi, Parker grew up in Cincinnati and was a three-sport star at Courter Tech High School.
After playing for Pittsburgh from 1973-83, he signed with his hometown Reds and spent four seasons with the club. In 1985 he led the NL with 125 RBIs and was second in the MVP voting.
“He was such a big dude at a time when there weren’t that many ‘6-foot-5, 230-pound, dynamic defender, batting champion with power’ guys,” Hall of Famer and Reds teammate Barry Larkin said. “Everything about him was impressive.”
In a statement, the Reds said: “Dave was a towering figure on the field, in the clubhouse and in the Cincinnati community, where his baseball journey began, playing on the fields near his home and going to games at Crosley Field. Dave’s impact on the game and this franchise will never be forgotten.”
Parker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012.
He told reporters that he burst into tears upon learning of his selection to the Hall of Fame.
“Yeah, I cried,” Parker said after receiving the news. “It only took a few minutes, because I don’t cry.”
Parker homered for the A’s in the 1989 World Series opener and took credit for helping the Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire take the title with a four-game sweep of San Francisco.
“All of us throughout the game are deeply saddened by this loss,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We will remember the Cobra forever, especially as his name soon officially joins the legends of our national pastime.”
Pirates veteran and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen paid tribute to Parker after Pittsburgh beat the New York Mets 9-2.
“He had to be like Superman to people when he was playing,” McCutchen said. “He was larger than life on the field and had a larger-than-life personality, too.”
Parker was a seven-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove right fielder, and when he retired after the 1991 season, he was one of only five players with at least 500 doubles, 300 homers, 150 stolen bases and 2,700 hits.
“I was a five-tool player. I could do them all,” Parker said after his Hall selection. “I never trotted to first base. I don’t know if people noticed that, but I ran hard on every play.”
— By JOHN PERROTTO, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Zach McKinstry had three hits, including one of Detroit’s four home runs, and the Tigers went on to beat the Twins 10-5 on Saturday afternoon.
Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres also homered for the Tigers.
Casey Mize (8-2) gave up two runs on five hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five as he improved to 5-0 with a 2.00 ERA in six starts at home this season.
Bailey Ober (4-6) took the loss, allowing seven runs on 11 hits, including all four home runs. He walked one and struck out five.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Spencer Torkelson doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly. After Minnesota went ahead 2-1 on Buxton’s two-run homer in the third, Detroit tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Carpenter’s homer.
Colt Keith made it 3-2 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and Torres followed with a two-run homer.
Greene led off the fifth with Detroit’s third home run to move the lead to 6-2, and McKinstry’s lead-off homer in the sixth made it a five-run game.
Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but Wenceel Pérez hit a two-run double in the bottom of the inning.
The Twins nearly took the lead in the second inning, but Carpenter leaped to keep a fly ball from Ryan Jeffers from clearing the left field fence.
Buxton homered and stole a base in the same game for the 15th time, tying Gary Gaetti for third place on the Twins career list.
The teams finish the three-game series in the first Sunday night game at Comerica Park since 2017. Twins RHP Chris Paddock (3-6, 4.64) faces Tigers ace LHP Tarik Skubal (9-2, 2.29), who is 9-0 in his last 14 starts.
DETROIT – Sometimes it happens like you dream it. Or pretty darn close to it.
Lefty Dietrich Enns’ last big-league start was Sept. 24, 2021. He’s traveled a long, long road to get back. And he certainly made the most of his return.
The 34-year-old Central Michigan product allowed one hit over five impressive innings Thursday, helping the Tigers beat the Athletics 8-0 and take the three-game series at Comerica Park.
“I’m proud of him for the journey,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s been around the world and worked his way back.”
Literally.
Enns, who last pitched in the big leagues with the Rays, spent 2022 and 2023 in Japan and last season pitched in Korea. The Tigers signed him and after he made a strong impression this spring, he was dominant in 14 starts at Triple-A Toledo (2.89 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 62.1 innings).
“Reliable human, reliable pitcher,” Hinch said. “He earned his way back here by how he pitched in Triple-A. I told him he got called up because he can help us win.”
Enns got into the game with an eight-pitch, six-strike first inning and only had to work out of one mess.
In the third inning, Eastern Michigan product Max Schuemann rolled an infield single to the left side of the infield – the only hit Enns allowed – and stole second. He advanced to third on a flyout.
But Enns left him there, getting the dangerous Brent Rooker to bounce into a 5-4-3 double-play.
Smartly mixing changeups, cutters and curveballs off well-located 93-mph four-seam fastballs, Enns struck out four and got six ground-ball outs. The Athletics put 11 balls in play against him with a mild average exit velocity of 81.4 mph.
“He dove right in with our pitching group,” Hinch said. “He’s not just doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a new opportunity. He refined his changeup. He’s learned count leverage a little better. His arsenal has shifted.
“Adjustments don’t mean a complete overhaul. It just means subtle tweaks and the performance followed.”
It was Enns’ third big-league win. His other two were against the Tigers, Sept. 11 at Comerica and Sept. 16 at Tropicana Field.
Spencer Torkelson got the offense started, lining a changeup from lefty Jeffrey Springs over the wall in left field. It was his 17th homer and his first since June 10. He’d gone 44 plate appearances between homers and was 4 for 37 in that stretch.
They stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third. Jahmai Jones bounced one over the bag at third base that eluded Max Muncy and caromed off the side wall for a double.
Parker Meadows scored easily from second and Gleyber Torres hustled around from first.
Torres padded the Tigers’ lead with an opposite-field, two-run homer to right off reliever J.T. Ginn in the seventh. It was his eighth homer.
The Tigers, specifically Zach McKinstry, ran themselves out of a couple scoring opportunities.
With runners at first and second and one out in the fourth, McKinstry broke for third base on a 2-2 pitch to Jake Rogers. Perhaps he thought the count was full, but he stopped, got in a rundown and was tagged out.
With two outs in the sixth, McKinstry singled and stole second base. He tried to score on an infield ground ball by Javier Baez. Baez was safe on a throwing error by Muncy but McKinstry was thrown out at the plate by first baseman and former Tiger Gio Urshela.
McKinstry more than made up for the outs on the bases. He had three hits and paid full penance in the eighth inning by ripping a two-run triple into the right-field corner off lefty TJ McFarland. He leads the American League with eight triples.
The Tigers (51-31) continue to pile up series wins. They’ve won 18 of 25 series with one tie. They’ve won 10 of 13 series at Comerica Park.
TAMPA, Fla. — You don’t accept excuses, but facts are facts, as they say.
And the fact is, this has been an arduous week for the Tigers.
They played their 12th game in 14 games Sunday, including a long, split doubleheader at Comerica Park on Thursday, a flight that got to Tampa at 3 a.m. Friday, night game Friday, noon games Saturday and Sunday — in dense 90-plus-degree heat and against the hottest team in baseball.
“It’s brutal,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game Sunday. “Guys are banged up and tired and frustrated with a couple of the losses. … It’s part of it. It’s not been great. We’re not playing our best through it.
“But we’re going to keep working, keep trying to deal with the circumstances. But yeah, not good.”
At least the flight home was a happy one.
Wenceel Perez lined an opposite-field, two-run homer, on an 0-2 fastball from lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning and helping the Tigers snap a three-game losing streak and salvage the finale with a 9-3 win against the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.
“It’s huge,” said Riley Greene, whose fingerprints, glove prints, were all over this victory. “We lost the first couple of games, had a couple of rough days with delays and a doubleheader. But at the end of the day, we still have to win a baseball game and that was a good one to win.”
The Tigers, at 49-30, still have the best record in baseball and a healthy nine-game lead in the Central Division. Even after a 20-game stretch where they played .500 baseball.
“Our reset button has been pretty good,” Hinch said. “But we’re not trying after win totals in June and we’re not after any recognition. We just reset and play the next series. I love this team for a lot of reasons but one of the main reasons is that we come to play every day.”
The Tigers blew the game open with a six-run ninth against reliever Forrest Whitley, keyed by a three-run blast by Parker Meadows. Spencer Torkelson sliced an RBI double. Perez also singled in a run. And, in keeping with the theme of the week, the game was delayed 18 minutes by a sudden shower before the Tigers even made an out in the top of the ninth.
From the outside looking in, it felt like a badly-needed win, if only to steady a brief wobble. But that’s not the view from the inside.
“We’re not going to take the mentality of every time we win, we’re great, and every time we lose, we suck,” Hinch said. “That’s not how you get through this type of schedule, and it’s not how you get through this type of season.
“We will be fine.”
They expect Casey Mize to be fine, too, though he left the game with the trainer one batter into the sixth inning. The heat index Sunday was over 100 degrees and that absolutely was a factor.
“Just started cramping in my right leg,” said Mize, who pitched a solid five innings, allowing only a solo home run to Junior Caminero, who has hit 19 of them this season. “And it continued when I got (to the clubhouse) in other body parts. It was a really hot day.”
Mize grimaced after throwing a 92-mph fastball to Caminero. Mize had been firing it between 94 and 97 mph before that.
Immediately, Hinch and trainer Kelly Rhoades came to the mound.
“We were worried (about cramping) beforehand because he’s had that before,” Hinch said. “He wanted some more time and was really hoping I would give him some warm-up pitches. But not in this heat, at this time in the season, where he was (80 pitches) and where he was in their lineup (middle).
“He had a short leash in that inning, anyway. I just took him out, very prematurely, because of the cramp.”
Mize the competitor wanted to keep pitching, especially in what was a 1-1 game. But Mize, the teammate, understood it was the right move.
“I felt like I could’ve continued but I think it turned out great,” he said with a smile. “In retrospect, it looks like the right call. I wish I could’ve pitched through the inning but I understand why, it was smart to get me out of there.”
In a lot of ways, this turned into the Riley Greene Show this weekend. He homered twice on Friday, and on Sunday he doubled twice and scored twice.
He also did his level best to keep Mize’s track clean with three outstanding defensive plays in left field in the first four innings.
“He made some great plays out there for me, for sure,” Mize said. “Like he always does for everybody. He can change the game with his bat.”
And his glove.
With a runner on and no outs in the second inning, Greene ran a long way toward the left-field line, laid out and caught a slicing bloop off the bat of Jake Mangum. With a runner on third and two outs in the third, he tracked a slicing foul ball to the side wall, leaped up and nearly went all the way over the wall to make the catch.
In the fourth, he tracked a laser into the left-field gap and took extra bases away from Jonathan Aranda.
“We’ve got to play 27 outs,” Greene said. “You can’t give them anything, especially in this ballpark. Anything can happen. We’ve already seen that here.”
Later, with the Tigers protecting the two-run lead in the eighth, Greene made another sliding catch after a long run, taking a hit from Caminero. Brandon Lowe was on first base with no outs, so it was another critical catch.
“Their offense has been pretty relentless on the other side, especially this last month,” Hinch said. “You have to record as many outs as you can when you can. They put balls in play, they run the bases and this is a big outfield. As small as right field is, left field is big. Riley came up huge.”
The Tigers bullpen, which got a much-needed break Saturday because starter Sawyer Gipson-Long ate 6.1 innings in bulk relief, locked down the final 12 outs, though the last three took a bit.
Tyler Holton and Chase Lee got five outs. Tommy Kahnle got four big outs before the Tigers blew it open. Lefty Brant Hurter, who threw 31 pitches Saturday as the opener, started the ninth, but couldn’t find the plate.
He threw 18 pitches, just seven strikes, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit-batsman.
Brenan Hanifee was summoned and got through the ninth, allowing a two-run single by Taylor Walls.
“I know you’re trying to get me to make a bigger deal out of this (win),” Hinch said. “But honestly, we just come to play every day. Obviously it’s an important win before an off day. We want to salvage a game here and it’s been a rough go. But it is what it is.
“It doesn’t help us or hurt us on Tuesday.”
Reset and move forward.
TAMPA, Fla. — The question was put to Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch before the game Sunday: Has your faith in the opener strategy waned?
The last three games in which an opener was used to start the game ended in lopsided losses, including Saturday when opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning.
Even though the strategy hasn’t been the direct cause-and-effect in every loss, it’s been a far less reliable play over the last month since injuries to starting pitchers Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe dinged the rotation.
Seemed like a good time to check on Hinch’s commitment to the strategy. Has it lessened?
“No,” he said. “The strategy is sound. I think the opener part is a little bit misconstrued as, it’s good when it works and bad when it doesn’t. It impacts things you don’t necessarily see all the time.”
It impacts the opponent’s lineup construction, Hinch said. It impacts how they space their hitters (right-handed and left-handed), which can impact decisions later in the game. And most importantly, when it works, it allows Hinch to dictate when to insert the bulk-innings pitcher.
“It’s a good strategy because the top of the lineup, which are generally their best hitters, don’t see the same pitchers all the time,” Hinch said.
Like in Game 3 of the ALDS last October when the Tigers used the strategy and blanked the Guardians, 3-0, and Jose Ramirez went hitless and faced a different pitcher in each of his four plate appearances.
That’s the gold-star example of the benefits of the strategy. It hasn’t worked quite as cleanly this season.
“When it doesn’t work, you feel like the other way would’ve worked out,” Hinch said. “It’s like football when you go for it on fourth down, or basketball when you run a fast-paced offense. When it doesn’t work, it sucks. And when it does work, it’s awesome.
“But that’s a hard way to live when you are trying to strategize against an opponent.”
The Tigers fell into a 4-0, first-inning hole on both Friday and Saturday. They used a traditional starter on Friday (Jack Flaherty) and the opener on Saturday.
“Like, I get the questions and I get the frustration,” Hinch said. “But I get frustrated when our starter gives up runs in the first inning, too. It’s not because of a certain strategy.”
The reason Hinch used the lefty Hurter on Saturday was to combat the lefties at the top of the Rays lineup. Hurter ended up yielding a double to lefty Jonathan Aranda and walking lefty Josh Lowe. He also struck out lefty Brandon Lowe, but Lowe reached on a passed ball by catcher Jake Rogers.
All of which torpedoed the inning, and the strategy.
“After 24 hours, you think about yesterday’s game,” Hinch said. “If we get through that first inning, three up and three down, is a good strategy or a bad strategy? Good strategy. But that’s the best part of sports. We have these reactions and these emotions that the other way would’ve been better.
“We don’t like it when something doesn’t work out. But it doesn’t make the strategy poor.”
It’s not a personnel issue, either. The Tigers’ bullpen, although it’s been heavily taxed over the last three weeks or longer, is still built to handle any type of strategy, be it an opener or even straight bullpen games.
“There are times when maybe the strategy needs to be questioned,” Hinch said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach with us or with any team. But if you ask managers around the league whether they care or not if they have to face an opener strategy, most guys don’t like to compete against it.
“It’s a pretty solid strategy when the opponent doesn’t like it. It’s not an exact science and it’s not perfect. But it’s a strategy and it’s been effective for a while now and there’s no reason to abandon it.”
The Tigers have been charged with 11 unearned runs in the last six games.
… Reliever Alex Lange (lat repair) made his second rehab outing at West Michigan on Saturday. He allowed a run and two hits with two strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches and 15 strikes. “I watched it,” Hinch said. “Looked like he came through it well. But with him right now, we’re in live BP, first day of spring mode.”
… Matt Vierling (shoulder) had been in an 0-for-10 rut in his rehab assignment with Toledo, but he broke out with three hits Saturday. He’s still only being used as the designated hitter. He is expected to start playing the field soon.
… Andy Ibáñez, who was optioned to Toledo on June 6, is 9 for 42 (.214) this month, with a .327 on-base percentage and .565 OPS.
TAMPA — No strategy can survive a lack of execution.
And recently, the Detroit Tigers’ strategy of using an opener ahead of a bulk reliever, such a weapon at the end of last season, has been doomed by shoddy execution, be it by the opener, the bulk operator, the defense or all of the above.
Lefty opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning Saturday and for the third time this season, the Tigers have lost three straight games.
The Tampa Bay Rays, winners in seven of their last nine, coasted to an 8-3 victory over the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field.
It was second straight game the Tigers fell behind by four runs in the first inning.
“That’s what we try to do,” said catcher Jake Rogers. “Punch first. That’s what we’ve done to a lot of teams. But Tampa is hot right now and playing a good brand of baseball.”
Hurter got the first three hitters out in the first inning, striking out two of them. But Brandon Lowe, the No. 2 hitter, reached first base on a third-strike passed ball by Rogers. Lowe whiffed at a 91-mph sinker but the ball seemed to handcuff Rogers. It hit off his glove and went to the backstop.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” Rogers said. “It needs to be caught. It was a sinker away. It kind of caught a seam and cut on him and I botched it and hit it to the backstop. Which is not what you want from me. It was a crucial point in the game and it led a much larger inning.”
The Rays turned that extra out into four, two-out runs. But that’s not all on Rogers. Hurter struck out right-handed hitting Junior Caminero for the second out with Lowe still at second base.
He never got the third out.
“The reality of that first inning is that Hurter couldn’t get the lefties out,” manager AJ Hinch said. “That inning turned into a mess. But in that situation (using Hurter to open), we were hoping to get the lefties.”
Lefty Jonathan Aranda doubled and then Hurter started spraying pitches. He walked righty Christopher Morel and, with the bases loaded, walked lefty Josh Lowe. He then forced in another run by hitting Jose Cabellaro. His day ended after switch-hitter Taylor Walls plated two with a single.
“Giving up the extra base runner is painful,” Hinch said. “Especially when you look back at it. But even in the moment, we were still in a good position to get out of it. I’m not worried about Hurter, at all. It was a bad inning for him.”
Sawyer Gipson-Long finished the first inning but his mission at that point was more of a recovery than a rescue. With the bullpen covering 14 innings over the last three games, including the doubleheader Thursday, it was paramount for Gipson-Long to eat innings.
That he was able to pitch through the seventh inning was the biggest positive of the day for the Tigers. He gave the bullpen a chance to reset for the finale on Sunday.
“That was big,” Hinch said. “Big for him, first off. We want to get him going. The word is out that we pound the zone early. He threw a ton of first-pitch strikes and they were first-pitch swinging from 12:10 p.m. (game time) on.
“It was good that he could get us into seven innings and be able to hold his stuff.”
Gipson-Long went 6.1 innings, his longest outing this season, and was charged with four runs.
“It’s not a traditional start but I know I have to go out there and eat up innings,” he said. “I need to get into the later part of the game for my team and if I can do that, I can put us in a good spot.”
He was dinged by three solo homers, two of them in the fourth inning, by Danny Jansen and Caminero, his 19th homer this season. Morel launched a 434-footer in the seventh.
“I thought I pitched my game pretty well,” said Gipson-Long making his fourth start back after recovering from elbow and hip surgeries. “Solo homers, they’re not something you want, but they’re not going to beat you in the long run. If I keep throwing strikes, everything evens out.
“I feel like staying in the zone, not walking people, throwing to contact, that’s a good approach against any team.”
Gipson-Long’s performance certainly put the Tigers in a good spot for Sunday. So did an incredible, 13-pitch dogfight in the eighth inning by Jahmai Jones.
“You try to put pressure on teams, even in defeat,” Hinch said.
With a couple of pinch-hitting moves in the eighth, Hinch forced the Rays to use two relievers in the eighth inning get a third reliever warm in a blowout game.
Righty-swinging Jones pinch-hit for Zach McKinstry against hard-throwing lefty Mason Montgomery. He fouled off five 3-2 pitches, all of them at 98 and 99 mph. On the 13th pitch, Jones lofted an RBI double to the wall in left center.
“I just went up there battling,” Jones said. “The guy’s got a very good heater, as you could see. The biggest thing was just trying to get a barrel to the ball on a guy that throws 100. All it was was just try to fight and battle.”
The 13-pitch at-bat, plus right-handed hitting Dillon Dingler’s presence on the on-deck circle, forced Rays’ manager Kevin Cash to bring in one of his leverage relievers, Kevin Kelly.
“You’re just trying to create a little bit of an advantage for tomorrow by putting up good at-bats later today,” Hinch said. “Our guys play the whole game.”
It seemed odd, using Dingler to pinch-hit for lefty Parker Meadows against a funky righty like Kelly, but there was a method to the madness. Kelly ended up throwing 21 pitches to get five outs.
“Wanted Kelly in the game,” Hinch said. “We wanted to make them use as much pitching as we could. If I leave (Meadows) in, he’s going to leave his lefty (Montgomery) in. Bringing Dingler in got Kelly in for two ups.”
Just little nips at the Rays’ heels as they’re running away with a convincing win that could trip them up at some point on Sunday.
“We play tomorrow, twelve o’clock,” Hinch said, on any possible overreaction to a three-game losing skid. “Come watch us if you’re here, watch us on TV if you’re not. We have a good team. We’ll be fine.”
TAMPA – Riley Greene gets down to this part of the country, just a couple of hours away from his home and family outside of Orlando, once a year during the baseball season. And usually, Team Greene comes out in hordes for this series against the Rays.
So, does he have a lot of family here for this one?
“No,” he said.
Huh?
“So, it’s my godchild’s first birthday and everyone is going to that instead of watching Riley play,” he said, with a wistful shrug.
More than 100 people were expected to attend young Riker’s first birthday bash in the Orlando area.
“At least my parents are here and my sister,” Greene said.
The rest are missing quite a show.
Greene, in case you’re not paying attention, is on a tear. He hit two home runs and knocked in four Friday night, giving him 17 homers and 59 RBI on the season. He’s got 29 RBI in his last 29 games and he’s making a strong run at player of the month honors for June, slashing .353/.400/.618 with a 1.1018 OPS with four homers and 19 RBI entering play Saturday.
“I really haven’t changed much,” Greene said. “Just trying to get a good pitch to hit, put my body in a good position to hit the ball and see what happens.”
Damage happens. Lots of damage.
He’s slugging .526 on the season. The last Tiger to have 59 RBI on June 21 was Miguel Cabrera, who had 71 in 2013. He is one of three American League players to have at least 17 homers, 59 RBI and 35 extra-base hits, joining Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.
Still, he contends that nothing has really changed. He’s not consciously chasing power. Except for significantly more tilt in his swing, his mechanics and approach are mostly the same as last season.
He was asked before the game Saturday if he went into last offseason consciously trying to add more slug to his offensive profile.
“To be honest, no,” he said. “Just kind of did the same stuff over and over again like I’ve done the past offseason. I just think it comes with being on time and getting a good pitch to hit.”
This has always been Greene’s primary focus. It’s what manager AJ Hinch asks him after just about every at-bat – did you get a good pitch to hit. Here’s why that’s so important:
Greene, overall, is slugging .554 against fastballs and .580 against breaking balls. When he’s ahead in the count, he’s slugging .826 on fastballs, .773 on breaking balls and .727 on off-speed pitches.
Impressive.
“I think it speaks to my approach,” Greene said. “It speaks to another year under my belt. More experience is huge. And maybe I’m getting a little stronger. Who knows?”
For all of Greene’s production, the Tigers, still with the best record in baseball, have hit a bit of a plateau. They came in Saturday on a rare losing streak (two games) and had split their last 10.
And Saturday’s 12:10 p.m. start meant they would be playing at least 37 innings of baseball over the last 60 hours with more than three hours of rain delays and a two-hour, late-night, early-morning plane ride mixed in.
“We just flush it,” Greene said. “Yesterday was yesterday. It doesn’t really matter because we can’t change what happened. Just focus on today. This is just part of it. We can’t complain about it and say it’s a tough stretch. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of an excuse.
“People go through it. It is what it is. We just have to figure it out and play through it.”
DETROIT — Tarik Skubal didn’t have his best stuff working on Thursday, but the Tigers’ offense made sure that didn’t matter in a 9-2 bludgeoning of Pittsburgh in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Comerica Park.
With runs coming early and often, the Tigers broke the game open with a crooked second inning, propelled by a three-run Riley Greene double, pulling away from the Pirates and giving Skubal and the bullpen plenty of breathing room.
Greene headlined the offense, finishing with four RBIs on a 2-for-4 performance. Zach McKinstry added two hits, including a solo home run. Javier Báez had two hits and scored once. Gleyber Torres continued to sizzle in the leadoff spot with three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs.
And while it won’t be a memorable performance for Skubal, he was solid. He went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs and striking out six while issuing a rare trio of walks.
It was the offense that shined from the jump, starting with back-to-back hits from Torres and Jahmai Jones, who roped a double down the left-field line to advance Torres to third, setting up Greene for an RBI opportunity before Pittsburgh recorded an out.
Greene obliged, scoring Torres from on a sacrifice fly to deep left field. In total, the Tigers scored four runs on sacrifice flies, one shy of tying the single-game MLB record.
“It’s the situational hitting, when you need something in the outfield with the guy on third,” manager AJ Hinch said. “So it says that we had a lot of traffic and less than two outs and the guy had a pretty good at bat to get the run in. If you can cash in those runs when you get the opportunity, you can separate yourself a little bit and we did that.”
Greene’s big hit of the game came in the second inning. With the bases loaded, he flung a pitch low and out of the zone softly into center field and under the mitt of a diving Billy Cook. Greene coasted into second base as all three runners scored easily, capping a four-run inning that put the Tigers firmly in control.
Adding two more runs in both the fourth and fifth innings proved to be insurance.
“Obviously some big hits along the way, Gleyber down the line, the near catch, diving catch in center from Riley, Riley got a double and a bunch of sac flies and we had a comfortable win,” Hinch said.
And Skubal, despite fighting his way through a subpar start relative to his 2025 performance, still managed to keep the Pirates offense at bay.
Throwing the first pitch after the start of the game was delayed 40 minutes by inclement weather, Skubal wasn’t his sharp self as he settled in. And whether it was a delayed warm-up regimen or issues gripping the ball as rain still fell, he did something he hasn’t done yet this season: Walk back-to-back hitters.
After the game, Hinch gave Skubal a bit of grace relative to the weather, and predicted, correctly, that his ace pitcher wouldn’t be so forgiving to himself.
“It wasn’t a great day for Tarik to pitch,” Hinch said, alluding to the rain and wet field. “And he certainly gets a pass on that. He won’t give it to himself, but I’ll give it to him. It was nasty to start the game. And it’s not an excuse, he’s not going to want me to make it for him, but that had to play part of it. The heavy drizzle that was going on, the late start.”
And Skubal’s take?
“I can sit here and make excuses of the weather or what the mound felt like,” Skubal said. “I can sit there and do that but it doesn’t do me any good, it doesn’t do our team any good.”
After opening with a swinging strikeout of Nick Gonzales, Andrew McCutchen knocked a single into right field off of Skubal after working ahead in the count. Joey Bart and Alexander Canario both worked walks on five and seven pitches, respectively, as Skubal struggled to find the zone consistently. It spurred a mound visit from catcher Dillon Dingler.
Whatever was said seemed to do the trick, as Skubal fanned Ke’Bryan Hayes on three pitches and got an immediate flyout from Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the self-inflicted bases-loaded jam. After surviving that, Skubal was shown in the dugout, cursing in anger.
While he was even-keeled by the time he spoke about the moment, it was evident that Skubal’s distaste for pitching in the rain hadn’t abated.
“My hat is literally leaking water in front of my face as I’m pitching,” Skubal said. “It’s like, why didn’t we just wait? That’s kind of what I’m thinking and that’s where it’s frustrating to me.”
After his first-inning hiccups, Skubal snapped back to being the pitcher that has dominated opposing hitters.
He faced 10 batters to get the next nine outs. McCutchen managed a double in the third inning, as Skubal mowed through Pittsburgh hitters, striking out three in that span. Though he managed to get through the initial spell of rain, Skubal battled the conditions most of the game and changed his jersey almost every inning just to have a bit of dry fabric to get a better grip. And even when the rain relented, coming downhill on a torn up, rain-softened mound lived in the back of Skubal’s mind.
“It can impact the stuff that comes out of your hand for sure,” Skubal said. “Add it just felt like velocity was down, stuff kind of ticked down. It’s not that I wasn’t feeling good, it’s just, I didn’t feel comfortable to kind of let it go.”
When another hiccup cropped up in the fifth inning, with runners on second and third with one out, Skubal managed the situation deftly. He traded a groundball out for a run and then struck out Bart, ending the threat after surrendering just the lone run.
Skubal faced more traffic in the sixth inning, when he was chased from the game after 103 pitches and traded a sacrifice fly for the second out. He left runners on second and third with two outs for Carlos Hernández, a recently acquired righty reliever. And when Skubal couldn’t bail himself out of the jam, Hernández and the defense stepped up.
On his first pitch, Hernández got a ground out from Cook, as Báez corralled a bouncing ball up the middle and Spencer Torkelson corralled the throw to first base on a hop, ending the sixth and the threat.
It was far from Skubal’s most sterling effort, but he still finished throwing nearly six innings of two-run baseball.
And on a day where the offense scored in bunches all game, Skubal didn’t need to be great, just good enough.
“I just wasn’t very good today, but that’s OK,” Skubal said. “And it’s OK, we won, so who cares how I felt? On to the next day.”
DETROIT — Wenceel Perez’s face lit up when he was asked where his confidence level was right now.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “It’s so high right now.”
Admittedly, minutes after he produced a homer, triple and knocked in three runs in the Tigers’ 7-3 win Tuesday, that was a leading question. But his answer wasn’t bravado. His confidence has been hard-earned.
“I’ve worked so much during the offseason,” he said. “I’ve worked so much my entire career. That’s why I have that confidence. I work so much, I know what I’m able to do.”
The switch-hitting Perez, still only 25 years old, is off to a sizzling start, with five homers in 62 plate appearances and hitting .316 with a .702 slug and 1.057 OPS.
“He’s a really good hitter,” Javier Báez said. “He takes almost every at-bat deep, like to 3-2. He sees a lot of pitches. And he’s really focused on what we try to work on every day here.”
We are watching a hitter mature right before our eyes and the real growth has come from the right side of the plate. That’s always been his least productive side of the plate. Not so much any more.
“He’s messing up some scouting reports that have him stronger from the left side,” manager AJ Hinch said. “And he has been. But there’s some pop in that bat and he flexed it tonight.”
He flexed it two games in a row. He doubled and homered off Reds’ lefty Wade Miley on Sunday before lining a pull-side homer off Pirates’ lefty Bailey Falter on Tuesday.
Perez went into Wednesday 5 for 12 with two homers and two doubles against left-handed pitching. Last season, albeit in a much larger sample size, he slashed .209/.292/.302 with one home run.
Two things have helped him get to his right-handed A-swing more often. One is a mindset. He’s no longer just trying to put the ball in play from the right side.
“He going to make contact,” Hinch said. “And that’s huge. But now he’s hunting damage, which is encouraging as he’s trying to contribute in different ways. He’s an energy at-bat and in the last couple games, he’s been a difference-maker.”
The second adjustment has been mechanical.
“I’ve turned my front (left) foot in trying to stay more inside to the ball,” Perez said. “I had been opening up a little too quickly.”
If you open your hips too quickly, you pull off the ball and lose the power in your swing. Statcast data shows Perez, batting right-handed, is standing three inches deeper in the box than he was last year and is getting off his fast swing 3% more often.
Additionally, he’s squaring up 66.7% of the balls he’s put in play in the small sample, compared to 28.9% last season.
“Last year was my first year and I was just trying to adjust to everything,” Perez said. “I got through that last year and now I have a better routine and a better idea of what I’m doing now.”
It shows.
Matt Vierling, for the second day in a row, increased the intensity of his throwing program. He was simulating throwing on the run and was throwing nearly full speed.
“Just trying to do my best to stack heavy days,” he said. “So when I come back, I am used to the volume and intensity and be prepared to filter in wherever AJ needs me and not have to hold back.”
Vierling has missed all but four games this season working his way through a rotator cuff injury. He is expected to rejoin the Toledo Mud Hens in St. Paul and resume his rehab assignment.
DETROIT (AP) — The scheduled game between the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night was postponed due to the forecast for inclement weather.
Heavy rain hit the Detroit area early Wednesday afternoon, and with heavy storms expected during the evening, the game was called off about two hours before the scheduled first pitch.
The game will be played as a part of a split doubleheader on Thursday, with the first game scheduled for 1:10 p.m. and the second at 5:40 p.m.
Two of baseball’s top starting pitchers — Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes — are scheduled to pitch on Thursday, but will not face each other.
Skubal (7-2, 1.99 ERA) will face Pittsburgh left-hander Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.33) in the first game. Skenes (4-6, 1.78) will go against a Tigers opener in the nightcap.
— By DAVE HOGG, The Associated Press
DETROIT — The Tigers have reached outside the organization for some bullpen reinforcements. Whether this is a stopgap move or something more remains to be seen.
But on Monday, the Tigers claimed 28-year-old right-hander Carlos Hernandez off waivers from the Phillies and are on the hook for the remainder of his $1.16 million contract.
He pitched parts of five seasons with the Royals (2020-2024) but his high-end velocity (97.8 mph average on his four-seamer) never translated into consistent strikeouts or overall positive results.
He had a 4.95 ERA in 256.1 innings with the Royals. And in 25 games with the Phillies, he posted a 5.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 13 walks in 25.2 innings.
The Tigers didn’t immediately announce whether Hernandez would report to Detroit or to Triple-A Toledo. Presumably, that decision will be made once the medical reports on Will Vest are collected and reviewed.
Vest, who has been the Tigers’ de facto closer, left the game in the eighth inning Sunday and uncorking a fastball over catcher Dillon Dingler’s head and reporting “feeling something” in his pinky.
The Tigers’ 40-man roster is now full. Hernandez takes the spot opened when the club designated John Brebbia for assignment.
DETROIT — Saturdays have not been kind to the Tigers. Plain and simple.
The 11-1 thumping they took from the Reds at Comerica Park was their seventh straight Saturday loss. That’s 27% of their losses.
Go figure.
“Really?” said Jake Rogers. “That’s a stat for you. I wouldn’t have even thought twice about that. Something about Saturdays, I guess. How are Sundays?”
Sundays are much better. Rubber matches in series have been much better. The Tigers will have a chance to win their eighth straight three-game series on Sunday. But the fact that Rogers finished the game as the Tigers’ pitcher tells you how this one went.
“I enjoyed it,” said Rogers, who last pitched in 2021. “I don’t know if I looked like it.”
The Tigers, specifically starter Jake Flaherty, paid the price for violating one of the foundational tenets of their own organizational philosophy: He didn’t dominate the strike zone.
He was cruising along, getting through the first two innings in 20 pitches. Then he started issuing free passes. At first, they were just a nuisance, pushing up his pitch count, causing him some self-inflicted stress.
Elly De La Cruz’s 402-foot missile of a home run leading off the fourth had nothing to do with walks. Still, he walked two in the third. He walked another in the fourth. And by the time the fifth inning rolled around, he was at 67 pitches and wobbling.
“Just battling command,” he said. “I was able to make some adjustments and make some pitches. Even still, we were one pitch away from getting out of it.”
He walked two batters in the fifth, around a couple of singles. One run was in and the bases were loaded. Flaherty’s stress became distress.
Pitching coach Chris Fetter came out to give him a breather. But Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson jumped a first-pitch knuckle-curve and lined it over the bullpen in left field — grand slam home run.
“I left a curveball inside and Stephenson put a good swing on it,” said Flaherty, who did not second-guess the pitch choice. “If we execute it better, the results might be different. Can’t do the what-if game. The result wasn’t a matter of pitch selection. It’s more about the execution.”
Spencer Steer ended Flaherty’s day two batters later with a solo homer to left-center.
“They did a good job laying off some tough pitches and when they got some in the zone, they hit a few out of the park,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I thought Jack got into the game really well, six up and six down. Then the leadoff walk in the third and it kind of starter to unravel.”
Flaherty, who had allowed just six earned runs in his last five starts covering 30 innings, ended up with seven runs, three homers and five walks on his ledger in just 4.2 innings.
“Just get back to executing like we did in the first two innings,” Flaherty said. “It’s not like we have to go back to square one or anything. Just get back to executing and then get on another run with the next one.”
Before the Reds’ outburst, though, Flaherty and Reds starter Brady Singer were trading zeros when the Tigers ran themselves out of an early lead.
Javier Báez led off the third inning with a walk. Trey Sweeney, who was in a 5-for-52 rut with 17 strikeouts in his previous 21 games, blasted a double into the cutout in right-center.
Third base coach Joey Cora, even though there were no outs, waved Báez home. Normally on a ball hit to right-center, the second baseman is the cutoff man. But not if your shortstop is De La Cruz.
“He’s pretty much extraordinary at everything,” Hinch said. “They reversed that (the cutoff man) and I don’t blame them. They want him to take every outfield throw for that reason.”
De La Cruz’s throw home was clocked at 98.3 mph by Statcast. Báez was out by a lot.
“Tough swing of events there,” Hinch said.
Aggressive base running has been a big part of the Tigers’ success. They lead baseball in successfully going first to third (54 times) and with a 55% success rate on extra bases taken.
But this one was hurt, especially since it looked like Báez banged his shoulder on the play.
“We had two things going on there,” Hinch said. “I was seeing if we’re going to review it and I didn’t see Javy initially stay down. Once we knew we weren’t going to review it, he was up and walking off. It was a little bit of a scare.”
The trainers worked on him between innings and he finished the game.
“I will have him in the lineup tomorrow,” Hinch said. “If he can’t go, then you will see that he’s been scratched.”
The Reds piled on in the eighth against veteran John Brebbia. They scored three runs off him in the ninth inning Friday (he only got one out), and in the eighth inning Saturday, No. 9 hitter Matt McLain dinged him with a three-run homer.
Brebbia and Hinch had an extended, back-and-forth conversation after the eighth.
“He wanted to take the brunt of the rest of the game,” Hinch said. “He wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to go to somebody else out of the bullpen with where we were with the score. He was volunteering to go back out and I was telling him no.”
Brebbia threw 22 pitches after throwing 31 Friday night. With the Tigers down by more than 10 runs, Hinch could use Rogers in the ninth.
“He told me he’d kept (the velocity) under 70,” Hinch said. “He lied. I told him, 74 (mph) is no 70.”
Stephenson led off the inning with a double, which led to the 11th run and it also dissuaded Rogers from debuting his infamous knuckleball, the one he bedevils his teammates with in catch play.
“I think that’s the first pitch I ever threw,” Rogers said. “My dad when I was 10 years old said, ‘Hey, throw this.’ I’ve been throwing knuckleballs forever. Who knows if it’s good or not. It’s good in catch play and I’ve always been kind of wanting to.
“But, you know, it’s fun for me to be out there and enjoying it but a lot of times it’s when we’re getting our butts kicked. Not a great time to be joking around.”
DETROIT — Gleyber Torres wasn’t much interested in talking about his All-Star viability, certainly not on June 8. He may only be 28 years old but he has eight hard years invested in this game. He knows better than to put too much energy into things he can’t control.
“Not really,” he said on Sunday when asked if he’s thought about maybe returning to the All-Star game for the first time since 2019. “Just play. This is a long season, by the way. I really believe it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
That’s something his father instilled in him as young boy. The game is hard and you are competing against the best players in the world every day. Keep your head down, there will be storms to weather yet.
“It is so gratifying to start really good, but you have to compete and continue to make adjustments,” Torres said. “At some point, the league is going to make adjustments to you and you are going to have make your adjustments for that.
“I feel happy, yes. But I’m going to continue to play and do the adjustments every time.”
Because at some point, he said, slumps are inevitable. And the trick is to keep them from getting too deep.
“You’ve got to be ready to get back to normal fast,” he said. “Just go play and do your job every day.”
Make no mistake, though, if the All-Star game was tomorrow, Torres would have a strong case to be the American League’s starting second baseman. He’s been rock solid both in the field and in the No. 2 slot in manager AJ Hinch’s batting order.
His .381 on-base average and .775 OPS are tops among qualified AL second basemen, and his .269 average is second. He’s been an on-base machine, recording more walks (33) than strikeouts (29).
And most impressively has been his improvement on defense, going from a league-worst minus-11 defensive runs saved last year to a minus-1 this year.
“One thing that makes Gleyber unique is how many little things he’s trying to do better each day,” Hinch said. “And that leads to so many positive things. Whether it’s taking a game plan into the batter’s box, some of the positioning, the base running and just the reactions I’ve learned from him on the mound during a pitching change.
“There are just a lot of things Gleyber does to make a team better.”
Torres’ baseball IQ is elite, his instincts true. His calm assuredness on the field is contagious, solidifying. All of that, plus his selflessness and competitiveness, have made him a perfect fit for this still-young baseball team.
“It’s been good,” Torres said. “Always I am grateful because I got a good opportunity to play another year. Baseball is tough. There are really good players out there who don’t have a job. I’m going to enjoy the journey. I don’t take anything for granted right now.
“Just come to the ballpark and do my thing, do my job and help the team win.”
Torres, signed by the Tigers last December for $15 million, came from a noisy environment in New York. He pushed back when they asked him to move to third base and that created a firestorm of negativity in the media, with the fan base, even with his Yankees’ bosses.
It was a tough way to end a seven-year partnership.
But he’s blossomed in the relative tranquility here. Hinch has given him both the freedom and the trust to just be himself and play. More than that, Hinch has put him in a better position to maximize his skills.
The Tigers, per Sports Info Solutions, are a plus-8 runs saved, with their infield positioning. And that positioning data has helped negate some of Torres’ range deficiencies at second base.
And hitting Torres second, between a couple of left-handed hitters, has unleashed the on-base monster in him.
“I really believe the success, too, is that I know the guys behind me,” Torres said. “I don’t have to force myself to do too much. Just try to get a really good at-bat. If I don’t get anything good to hit, I just pass the baton on to the guys behind me.”
Against right-handed starters, left-handed hitting Parker Meadows is back in the leadoff spot and lefties Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene have recently hit third and fourth. For stretches before that, lefty Colt Keith was hitting third.
“Basically, I’m the righty at the top of the lineup,” Torres said. “And that means maybe I’m going to see one or two lefties later in the game. Also, the righties are going to throw me a little bit more carefully, because if something happens, I’ve got good cover behind me.”
Torres’ command of the strike zone has been remarkable. His chase rate (15.9%) ranks in the top 100 percentile in baseball, per Statcast. His 17.9% whiff rate is in the top 93rd percentile.
“I don’t try to walk, I just try to hit,” he said. “Just go to the plate, get a really good at-bat and trust my plan. Be really prepared before the game and whatever happens, happens. That’s the main thing for me. I’m always trying to put myself in scoring position if I get my opportunity. If not, if I don’t get my pitch, take my walk.”
He is essentially doing more by swinging less. He’s cut not only his chase rate, but his overall swing percentage from 69% to 65%.
“Hitting is so difficult,” Torres said. “Every time you are facing one of the best pitchers in the game. It’s really about trying to do less. Don’t try to do too much. Don’t try to hit every pitch. That’s the main thing. The past couple of years, I tried to hit everything and that got me into trouble.
“This year, if nobody throws me the pitch I want to hit, I just take it.”
This is a bridge year to free agency for Torres. He wasn’t able to get a multiyear deal coming off a rough (by his standard) season in New York but he’ll get another crack at it this winter, still before age 30.
He’s building a pretty sturdy bridge.
“Everything matters and he really does take to that,” Hinch said. “He’s all in on everything with his preparation and his play. I know going to a new team, there’s always that desire to be the best version of yourself. We’re reaping the benefits of all that he does.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael Wacha said he had plenty left if needed.
Wacha had the fourth-longest no-hit bid of his career Saturday before yielding a one-out hit to Colt Keith in the seventh inning of the Kansas City Royals’ 1-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Wacha did not factor in the decision, but he had his best outing of his two seasons with the Royals.
“It’s the best change-up he’s had all year,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He used his curveball more effectively. It’s hard to pick anything apart. There was so much soft contact.”
When asked if he would have given Wacha a chance to complete the game if the no-hitter was intact, Quatraro said, “I was hoping he would do it. He had six days off between his last outing and this one. He’s got some extra rest before the next one, if everything stays the way it is. So I was hoping we’d get to go for it.”
Before Keith’s hit, Wacha allowed only one baserunner on a fourth-inning walk to Gleyber Torres. He did not allow a runner to reach second base in seven innings.
“Obviously, I knew what was going on,” Wacha said of his no-hit bid. “I was just continuing to try to keep taking it to another level and keep making my pitches, and keep executing like I had been pretty much all day. I was just try to push it to the back of my mind and keep making quality pitches.”
Quatraro said he allowed himself to enjoy the effort of both pitchers, in spite of the scoreless game.
“You can appreciate the game, right?” he said. “I mean, you’ve got two really good pitchers out there, two good teams, and that’s a fun game. Sure, I would have rather been up 7-0 and not had to worry about it, but I did appreciate what was going on.”
Vinnie Pasquantino’s eighth-inning single drove in Nick Loftin from second for the game’s only run, as Wacha and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal both spun gems.
Loftin one-hopped the wall with what he originally thought was a homer.
“I just probably one of my better balls that I’ve hit here,” said Loftin, who had two of Kansas City’s four hits. “Quite frankly, I didn’t realize how big that ballpark was.”
Wacha has never thrown a no-hitter in his professional career, but he was ready to give it a try if he still had a chance.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I would not want to leave a game like that for sure. But unfortunately, I gave up a hit. That made it a little easier for Q.”
— By DAVID SMALE, Associated Press
DETROIT – What a comfort it must be, what a gift, for manager AJ Hinch to be able send Tarik Skubal to the mound every five days or so.
All the angst and frustration of three straight galling home losses to the Central Division rival Cleveland Guardians seemed to dissipate the minute No. 29 ran onto the field Sunday morning.
(Yes, morning. Game time was 11:30 a.m. to accommodate Roku.)
Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, struck out 13 and pitched his first career complete game, and the Tigers salvaged the finale of the series with a 5-0 win over the Guardians, before a crowd of 37,031 at Comerica Park.
The Guardians managed just two hits and Skubal’s 13 strikeouts matched his career high.
It was a masterful 94-pitch performance, reminiscent of his seven-inning gem against Texas on May 9. Like he did that day, Skubal set down the first 15 batters before giving up a lead-off hit in the sixth.
Josh Smith got him in the Texas game. It was third baseman Will Wilson who broke it up Sunday, driving a 97-mph sinker into the right-center gap for a double.
It was evident Skubal right out of the gate that Skubal had his A-stuff. He blew through the Guardians lineup in 25 pitches. He had a seven-pitch second inning and an eight-pitch third. The Guardians tried to bunt their way on — fail. They tried to attack early in counts — fail. They tried to sit on his off-speed pitches — fail.
They had no answer for him on this day.
He mixed the changeup off electric four-seam fastballs (97.9 mph average velocity) and sinkers (97.7 mph). His 71st and 72nd pitches were clocked at 100 and 101.7 mph. In the eighth inning he was throwing 90-mph changeups and 92-mph sliders.
Going into the ninth, he had 21 whiffs on 52 swings.
The Tigers offense all came in one big chunk.
After leaving the bases loaded in the second and stranding two more in the third, they batted around and chased lefty starter Logan Allen with a five-run fourth.
It was Zach McKinstry who broke the seal. He drove a 3-2 sweeper into the left-field seats, a two-run homer. Of his 28 career homers, that was just the second off a lefty.
It had a liberating effect on the Tigers’ hitters. Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres doubled. Andy Ibanez had an RBI single. He went to second on a throw to the plate and then aggressively scored on a throwing error by Allen on a tapper hit by Riley Greene.
Torres’ double marked the eighth straight time he reached base in the series.
DETROIT – Is it fair to wonder what the real Jack Flaherty looks like? He’s been, in turns, brilliant and baffling; not only this year, but over his last 20 regular-season starts.
His final 10 starts with the Dodgers last season (not counting the postseason) and his first 10 starts with the Tigers this season are very similar.
2024: 55.1 innings, 3.58 ERA, 1.283 WHIP, .729 opponent OPS, 26% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate.
2025: 53.1 innings, 4.39 ERA, 1.183 WHIP, .731 opponent OPS, 29% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate.
But within those numbers are some stellar starts: A 6.1-inning scoreless outing at Oakland in his Dodgers’ debut last year, 7.1 shutout innings against Cleveland last September.
This season, he punched out nine in 5.1 scoreless innings against the Yankees in April and posted quality starts against the Padres, and the Guardians in his most recent start.
The baseball card stats may not show it, but Flaherty keeps flashing the best version of himself, almost like a tease.
“It just comes down to executing pitches,” Flaherty said earlier this month. “If you make good pitches, you give yourself a chance. If you don’t make good pitches, these are the best hitters in the world. They’re going to make you pay.”
The flashes of brilliance have been coming more frequently in his last couple of outings.
His sixth and final inning in Toronto a week ago Friday, he punched out Jonatan Clase and Bo Bichette, carving them with knuckle-curves off firm, well-placed 94- and 95-mph four-seamers.
Against Vladimir Guerrero Jr., he got ahead 0-2 with 96 mph and 95.7 mph heaters. He followed that up with a 78-mph knuckle-curve literally on the plate that Guerrero topped 41 feet for a single.
But here’s a window into why his baseball card numbers seem a little gaudy: He got two strikes on lefty Daulton Varsho and put an 0-2 heater (95.7 mph) off the plate outside.
Somehow Varsho was able to redirect it into the left-field seats, leaving Flaherty with a bitter taste despite 5.2 strong innings of work.
His first inning against the Guardians Thursday seemed like an extension of that final inning in Toronto.
After getting Steven Kwan on a soft fly ball to left, he punched out Lane Thomas on four pitches (getting him on a 93.7 mph heater on the outer black) and Jose Ramirez on three pitches (knuckle-curve, changeup and a 95-mph heater painted on the outer black).
Again, he gave the Tigers a quality start (6.2 innings, three hits, three runs, eight strikeouts) and got an L on his ledger for his efforts.
“I feel like I’ve been going in the right direction the entire year,” Flaherty said. “Just, more mentally than anything, I have kind of talked myself into saying I wasn’t doing great. But I’ve been throwing the ball well.
“I’ve had a couple of rough innings but I still feel like I’m throwing the ball well. But there’s still another level to get to.”
His 2-6 record and 4.56 ERA suggests that it’s been a 10-start struggle for him and that’s not accurate. That he’s limiting hitters to a .225 average and .291 on-base percentage with a 1.181 WHIP argues against that narrative.
That he ranks third in the American League with 10.8 strikeouts per nine argues against it. That his knuckle-curve (.158 with a 47.4% whiff rate) and slider (.192 with a 33% whiff) have been mostly unhittable argues against it.
“We have a ton of belief in Jack,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Not just because of all the work he’s done, but because of what he brings to the table every day. What we saw in his fastball the last outing was encouraging. What we know he’s going to bring with the spin is really encouraging.
“When it comes to his attack plan, we have a ton of belief because he has a lot of options. He can go to a lot of different things and when he puts it all together, as he has so often in his career, he can put together some special games.”
That’s what Flaherty is working toward. Putting it all together. On Thursday, he was really good overall. But he didn’t have his usual pinpoint command of his knuckle-curve and had to navigate a lefty-heavy lineup with four-seamers, sliders and changeups.
And he made it work.
“I want to be able to take what I did in the first inning (Thursday) and try to do that in more innings,” Flaherty said. “The command got away from me a little bit at times and that hurt me.”
Case in point was the fourth inning. He walked Kyle Manzardo (even though he got squeezed on a couple of borderline pitches) and fell behind 3-1 to Carlos Santana.
Santana made him pay, rapping a two-run double.
“It comes down to execution,” Flaherty repeated.
True story. The run value on his four-seamer is minus-5. It was plus-6 last season. Hitters are slugging .589 on his four-seam and a big reason for that is he’s often having to throw the pitch in hitter-friendly counts.
Hitters have a .500 on-base percentage and .655 slug in three-ball counts against him. His 5% home run rate, a career-high, is also reflective of that.
It’s been one step forward and one step back for 20 starts. He will get the ball again against the Giants on Tuesday at Comerica Park and we can all wonder, will the real Jack Flaherty, please stand up.
They’ve come a long way. Back in 2021, Tigers’ shortstop Trey Sweeney and Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong were toiling at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., playing on frigid fields in front of a handful of fans, mostly parents.
On Monday, the two are expected to square off in front of 20,000-some fans at Comerica Park.
“It will be cool, just coming from where we came from,” Sweeney said. “It will be cool for us two, for sure, but obviously for everyone who is part of that school and the Eastern Illinois community.
“It’s kind of rare for that to happen at a smaller D-1 school. It’s going to be cool for everybody.”
Three Panther alums made their big-league debuts last season – Sweeney and Birdsong, also pitcher Will Klein with the Royals.
Back in 2021, Sweeney slashed .382/.522/.712 for the 25-23 Panthers. Birdsong was still a work in progress, going 0-5 with a 9.76 ERA.
“He looks a little different now,” Sweeney said with a smile. “He’s been looking pretty good.”
Yes he has. So much so, the Giants moved him to the rotation last week to replace Jordan Hicks. He bullied the Royals for five scoreless in his first big-league start.
“I can’t wait to see him,” Sweeney said. “Hopefully we can have breakfast one of those days and catch up.”
Series: Three games at Comerica Park
First pitch: Monday – 1:10 p.m.; Tuesday – 6:40 p.m.; Wednesday – 1:10 p.m.
TV/radio: Monday-Wednesday – FanDuel Sports/97.1
Probables: Monday – RHP Hayden Birdsong (2-0, 1.91) vs. RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 5.28); Tuesday – RHP Logan Webb (5-4, 2.67) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (2-6, 4.39); Wednesday – RHP Landen Roupp (3-3, 3.63) vs. RHP Jackson Jobe (4-1, 4.06).
Birdsong, Giants: Trey Sweeney’s teammate at Eastern Illinois in 2021 was moved into the rotation last week to replace Jordan Hicks and he pitched five scoreless innings against the Royals in his first start. He bullied the Royals mostly with a 98-mph heater. He also gets some swing-and-miss with a slider and changeup.
Montero, Tigers: The struggle for consistency remains real, evidenced by the high ERA, WHIP (1.565) and opponent OPS (.845). His strikeout rate is down (15%) and his walk rate is up (9.6%). Opponents are hitting .343 off his four-seamer and .346 off his slider with weighted on-base averages over .400 on each pitch.
DETROIT (AP) — Kyle Manzardo and Angel Martínez hit RBI doubles in Cleveland’s four-run 10th inning, helping the Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers for the third straight game, 7-5 on Saturday night.
Bo Naylor homered and drove in two runs, including a sacrifice fly that was part of the Guardians’ big inning. Nolan Jones added an RBI single in the 10th.
With the game tied at 3, Manzardo led off the 10th with an RBI double off Brenan Hanifee (2-2). After Carlos Santana walked, Martínez’s RBI double made it 5-3.
Gleyber Torres made it 7-5 with a two-run double in the bottom of the inning, but Emmanuel Clase got two outs to seal the victory for Cleveland.
Tim Herrin (4-1) got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth.
Detroit, which hadn’t lost three straight since the opening series of the season, led 3-0 after one inning, but Torres got their only two hits in the rest of the game.
After scoring one run in the first 18 innings of the series, the Tigers scored three in Saturday’s first inning. Kerry Carpenter doubled, Torres walked and Colt Keith hit an RBI double.
Ortiz almost escaped the inning, retiring Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, but Zach McKinstry walked and Matt Vierling hit a two-run single.
Cleveland scored twice in the third on Naylor’s homer and an RBI single by Jose Ramírez, and Ortiz escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning.
Cleveland tied it in the eighth when Ramírez singled, took third on Manzardo’s base hit and beat Torkelson’s throw to the plate on Martínez’s grounder to first.
The Guardians called up RHP Nic Enright and placed RHP Hunter Gaddis on the bereavement list. Enright was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2022, but has continued to pitch while undergoing treatment.
After Ramírez tied it in the eighth, Cleveland loaded the bases with one out. Tommy Kahnle got Naylor to pop out and Will Vest came in to retire pinch-hitter Jones on a grounder to second.
Ramírez’s third-inning single extended his hitting streak to 17 games.
The Tigers and Guardians finish their four-game series on Sunday morning, with the first pitch scheduled for 11:35 a,m. EDT. Detroit ace LHP Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.87) will face LHP Logan Allen (2-2, 3.86).
— By DAVE HOGG, Associated Press
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