It's fitting that the first two games between the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers this season have been one-run games. In a way, those type of games have defined the Tigers' shortcomings in 2026.
The Tigers beat the Dodgers, 2-1 on a ninth-inning walk-off single from shortstop Kevin McGonigle on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Comerica Park in Detroit. And though the Tigers got contributions from all sides to give them a chance to win, that's not how it has always gone this season.
Take Detroit's 2-1 loss to the Dodgers the day before, with former ace Tarik Skubal on the mound. Or the 4-3 walk-off road loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 19 that may end up as the de facto end of the Tigers' playoff hopes. Or any of the other 21 one-run losses the Tigers have suffered this season – 11 more than they had in all of 2025 – in building the worst one-run record in the American League (13-23) entering Saturday.
Is that the reason the Tigers have slipped so far in the standings this season? Put it this way – if the Tigers had a .500 record in those 36 one-run games so far this season, they'd be at 68-67 overall and tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL wild-card spot (or perhaps ahead of the Guardians, considering three of those 23 losses have come against Cleveland). There's no way to turn back the clock on those games, but it should lead to questions about why the Tigers have failed so often in these situations.
Is it bad luck? Is it the bullpen? Karmic justice for 2024 in which the Tigers had an MLB-high 31 one-run wins? Merely regression to the mean after two seasons in which 52 of the Tigers' 173 victories – a whopping 30% – came by one run?
If you ask Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, it could be something even smaller than that. According to him, the difference between the Tigers losing a one-run game on Friday and winning a one-run game on Saturday comes down to "the little things."
Small moments for Max Clark and Javier Báez
Saturday's win featured two key ninth-inning plays that sealed Detroit's win – a run-saving catch from left fielder Javier Báez in the top of the inning and a walk-off single from McGonigle in the bottom of the inning. But both big plays were set up by small changes – "the little things," if you will – that set up the Tigers for success.
On the catch, Báez and center fielder Max Clark were both streaking for a two-out, hard-hit fly ball by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández, one that would have scored right fielder Kyle Tucker and given the Dodgers a 2-1 lead if it had dropped. And with no way to tell if Báez could make the catch, Clark still pulled up from his run thanks to some communication the two outfielders agreed upon a while back.
"We all do the tss tss tss to get each other's communication and to hear each other from the infield to the outfield when you get close to somebody, because it's the only thing that you can hear and identify without a fan saying 'I got it' or 'ball ball ball,'" Clark said. "And then I just heard him tss tss tss tss, he's like 'I got it,' and that's why he's got a gold patch (for a Gold Glove winner). He's an elite defender."
¡Javy Báez cubriendo TODO EL TERRENO! 🏃♂️💨 pic.twitter.com/sAY98SayVD
— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) August 29, 2026
Báez said he didn't know if we would be able to reach the ball, but that he decided to go for it since Clark was shaded towards right-center.
"We did really good communication on positioning, and me not running too far that way when he's over to my side," he said. "I just went for it, and got a good first step."
Both players played big roles in the bottom of the ninth inning, but switched in the order from where they played the day before. Báez, who has taken nearly 60% of his plate appearances from the ninth spot this season (including on Friday) was batting eighth and leading off the ninth inning, with Clark (who batted eighth on Friday) right behind him in the lineup.
A lineup change like that is undoubtedly a tiny thing – but when Báez led off with the double, it allowed Hinch to call for Clark to bunt. And with Clark having already reached base on a bunt in the third inning, the sacrifice to get Báez to third base as the winning run was equally effective.
Funnily enough, Clark said he only had one sacrifice bunt attempt in his professional career, back in Triple-A on a bunt that turned into a double play. Still, he said he had the confidence to get the bunt down, since it's something he works on in every batting practice session.
"That's winning baseball. It's all hands on deck against guys like this," Clark said. "So being able to get it down and get guys into scoring position and then execute was big."
Hinch echoed his center fielder's sentiment.
"You could just sense how difficult it was to score, we were just taking 90 feet at a time when we could get it," he said. "It's a difficult game sometimes, and small things like that can contribute."
Other winning plays
Hinch pointed to other winning plays that might get lost in the box score, like the bullpen shutting down Dodger pinch-hitters Enrique Hernández and Miguel Rojas after both vets burned them the night before, or pinch-hitters Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry making late contributions coming cold off the bench.
"It was almost played out exactly the same [as yesterday's game], except we were able to get their pinch-hitters out with the opposite handedness," Hinch said. "It's funny how those small little things help us. We swapped out our guys, Colt was able to get on base and hit the ball hard, [McKinstry] makes a nice running catch. ... If you don't start the game, it doesn't mean you're not going to be in a big spot."
And perhaps the guy in the biggest spot on Saturday was rookie lefty Andrew Sears, who pitched 2⅔ innings in relief in his first home appearance as a Tiger. Sears' eighth-inning performance was especially critical, as the 23-year-old with just four big league innings entering Saturday got stars Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts out in an inning that could've easily gone the other direction.
That's a challenging assignment for the longtime starter, especially since both of his MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen.
"You gotta make adjustments to be at this level. He would rather be in this role than start tonight in St. Paul," Hinch said.
As for the rest of the team making adjustments for a playoff push, it might be a little too late – though the Tigers are not mathematically out of it, with FanGraphs giving them a 2.3% chance to make the playoffs as of Saturday with 27 regular-season games left to play. And as the Tigers have shown in years past, a string of wins in close games, no matter how much effort goes into the little things, can help overcome even the longest playoff odds.
Or as Báez put it, the Tigers can do nothing but take the rest of the season one game at a time.
"It was a really good game from both sides. Really tight games. They got the win [on Friday], but we'll see if we can win the series tomorrow."
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers have been sunk by one-run games. Can they fix it?
