Their first-place opponent finally made some mistakes, and the Detroit Tigers took full advantage.
Despite an inconsistent outing from starter Jackson Jobe and early struggles at the plate, the Tigers took the lead in an explosive fifth inning and beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at Comerica Park. The win gives each team one victory in the three-game series, with the early-afternoon rubber march set for Wednesday.
Tigers center fielder Max Clark gave the Tigers the lead with one swing, launching a two-run home run in the fifth inning that put Detroit ahead, 2-1. Three defensive mistakes from the Rays later in the fifth led to another Tigers run, with second baseman Gleyber Torres scoring after a bloop hit, balk and error sent
him around the bases.
After an effective first three innings, Jobe fell into trouble in the fourth, allowing a run on a Jonny DeLuca infield single and eventually loading the bases with one out. He escaped the inning without allowing any other damage, but was pulled just one out into the fifth inning, after 86 pitches.
With the win, the Tigers move to 62-70 on the season, improving to four games back in the American League wild-card standings behind the Cleveland Guardians, who played late Tuesday.
On the mound: JAckson Jobe mixes pitches
Jobe came out with an unusual pitch mix, throwing just four four-seam fastballs among his 19 first-inning pitches. Jobe has thrown his four-seam fastball at a 40% rate this season, the highest among all his pitches, but mixed in more curveballs and sinkers early on against a contact-oriented Rays lineup.
The righty went back to the four-seamer immediately in the second inning, walking speedster Chandler Simpson after two heaters couldn’t find the plate after a 2-1 count. Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler bailed Jobe out, however, throwing out Simpson on his attempted steal of second. Two stellar defensive plays from second baseman Gleyber Torres, one in the second inning and one in the third, also helped keep the Rays off the board in the early innings.
Jobe allowed a hard single to Junior Caminero to lead off the fourth, with catcher Liam Hicks then dropping a hit into shallow center field that took a strange hop and twirled back behind center fielder Max Clark, putting both Caminero and Hicks in scoring position. Two batters later, right fielder Jonny DeLuca drove Caminero in on an infield hit to give the Rays a 1-0 lead – though Jobe got out of the bases-loaded, one out jam by striking out second baseman Richie Palacios and getting shortstop Taylor Walls to ground out.
Jobe finished the game with one run off four hits and three walks, striking out four over 4⅓ innings. He also featured a new-look curveball, averaging 85 mph on the pitch (4 mph above his season average) with a tighter break. Along with his two-seam fastball, it was his most effective pitch of the night.
Jackson Jobe, 86mph Hammer. 🔨 pic.twitter.com/xdt3hOC539
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 25, 2026
Lefty Drew Sommers and righty Jacob Waguespack, lately the most reliable arms in the Tigers bullpen, got the next eight outs to bring Detroit to the eighth inning with the lead still intact. Lefty Tyler Holton then pitched a scoreless eighth inning before closer Kenley Jansen recorded his 17th save of the season to seal the win.
At the plate: Max Clark's big fly
The right-handed heavy Tigers starting lineup was set up for left-handed bulk reliever Ian Seymour, but struggled initially against right-handed opener Casey Legumina, who set down the Tigers in order over the first two innings.
Clark gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with a one-out, two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning, driving in Javier Báez from first base. It was the 21-year-old's second home run of the season and first at Comerica Park.
FIRST HOME RUN IN COMERICA FOR THE LEAD ‼️ pic.twitter.com/LI85TEUwo9
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 26, 2026
The Tigers then took advantage of defensive mistakes in the fifth, with Torres reaching first base after a miscommunication between right fielder Jonny DeLuca and second baseman Richie Palacios led to a bloop single in shallow right field. Torres later advanced to second base on a balk by Seymour and scored two batters later after a Kevin McGonigle ground ball to first base was ruled an error after first baseman Jonathan Aranda watched the hard-hit ball kick off his glove into right field.
The Tigers almost wasted a leadoff triple from Javier Báez in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Clark then lining out to first base and Torres striking out. But second baseman Hao-Yu Lee stroked a two-out single, scoring Báez from third and giving the Tigers a three-run lead.
Next up: The series finale
The Tigers finish off their three-game series with the Rays on Wednesday (1:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). Right-hander Freddy Peralta (5-11, 5.33 ERA), who the Rays added from the Mets at the trade deadline, is scheduled to face Tigers righty Troy Melton (7-2, 1.60 ERA).
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Max Clark's 1st home HR powers Tigers past Rays to snap 6-game skid
