The 2026 Detroit Tigers are not going quietly into that good night. The youth movement, with some assistance from Spencer Torkelson, victimized a pretty shoddy looking Toronto Blue Jays’ staff with 10 hits and eight walks to crush them 10-1 on Roberto Clemente Day. That makes six straight for the Kitties.
Drew Anderson got the start for the Tigers on Tuesday, while the Blue Jays went with a bullpen game. Right-hander Braydon Fisher started for the Jays, and he started the game by walking Gleyber Torres
and Kevin McGonigle. Unfortunately, Hao-Yu Lee grounded into a double play, and Riley Greene struck out.
Anderson meanwhile started his night well with a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the first.
Eduardo Valencia opened the second inning with a hot grounder off of Fisher, but Ernie Clement made a diving stop and got the slow moving catcher at first. Lefty Brendon Cellucci succeeded Fisher at that point, and he punched out Max Clark and Spencer Torkelson with high heat.
Anderson retired Alejandro Kirk on a ground out and struck out Nathan Lukes to start the bottom of the second. Kazuma Okamoto singled to right field, but a fly ball to center from Andres Giménez was hauled in by Max Clark to send us to the third inning.
The Tigers went in order again in the third, as Zach McKinstry flew out, John Peck struck out, and McGonigle hit a deep drive to center that was caught by Brett Bateman.
Anderson was cruising thus far, but he got into a spot of the old bother in the bottom of the third. He struck out Josh Smith looking at a curveball, walked Clement, and locked up Bateman with a changeup. However, Clement stole second and Anderson walked George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to load the bases. A pair of well located fastballs away to Kirk got him behind 0-2, and a good curveball drew a ground out to third to end the inning.
Escaping that potential disaster seemed to inspire the lineup in the fourth. Old friend Michael Lorenzen took the mound, and while he got Torres and Lee, he then walked Greene and Valencia with two outs. Max Clark was up next, and the kid stayed hot, slashing a double the opposite way into the left field corner to score Greene and get Valencia to third.
Torkelson was up next and got a tasty 1-1 sweeper right in the heart of the plate. The first baseman lifted a towering blast high and deep to left and into the bullpen for a three-run homer. McKinstry grounded out, but it was now 4-0 Tigers.
Anderson took inspiration from that lead and locked in his command again. He got Lukes on a grounder to first, and then whiffed Okamoto with a high fastball after an eight-pitch battle. Giménez flew out, and we were on to the fifth.
Lorenzen was still in there in the fifth. He popped up Peck, but walked McGonigle. Torres flew out, and so it was up to Hao-Yu Lee and the third baseman singled to right to get McGonigle to third. Lorenzen got a first pitch strike to Greene, but the Tigers slugger spat on the next two and in a 2-1 count Lorenzen left a slider up in the zone and Greene hammered it off the wall in right just short of a home run. McGonigle scored and Lee took third, while the ball was hit so hard that Greene stayed at first base with a single. Valenica fought Lorenzen to a 3-2 count, but ultimately popped out to end the inning. 5-0 Tigers.
Anderson continued to roll in the fifth. He got Josh Smith to ground out and then popped up Clement. Bateman lashed a single past a diving Torres into right field, but Anderson dropped in a curveball to Springer that was fouled off and came back with a changeup that was grounded to third. The long third inning wasn’t good for Anderson’s pitch count, which stood at 88 pitches through five frames, but he threw a really good game otherwise. 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K was his line, and right-hander Jacob Waguespack was warming up to take over in the sixth.
Lefty Brendon Little succeeded Lorenzen in the top of the sixth. He coaxed a grounder to first from Clark to start the inning. Little was wary of Torkelson though, and put him on with a five-pitch walk. With McKinstry at the dish, and Little’s leg kick making him slow to the plate, Torkelson then shocked the world by stealing second for his first of the season. McKinstry bounced one to Clement at second and couldn’t quite beat out the throw, but Torkelson got to third and Peck had an opportunity to add to the lead. He did so, slashing a 1-0 sinker the opposite way down the right field line. Really nice piece of hitting to make it 6-0, though he was cut down trying to take second on a good throw from Lukes in right field, ending the inning. It was worth a try. Lukes just made a pretty perfect play on that one.
Waguespack did take over in the bottom of the sixth. He got a comebacker from Guerrero to start the inning, and then a soft tapper from Kirk than Valencia handled. Lukes reached on a grounder to Torres, but Okamoto flew out to McKinstry to snuff any threat from developing. The right-hander doesn’t strike anyone out, walks too many, and gives up too many homers, and yet he still holds a 2.70 ERA. How long can it last? Place your bets, but the funk, overhand delivery, and changeup have generally kept the contact light most of the time.
Former Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti was on the mound for the Jays in the seventh. He walked McGonigle to start the inning, but Torres flew out and Lee struck out. Greene battled through a seven pitch AB but eventually popped out.
Waguespace whiffed Giménez with a good changeup to start the bottom half. Smith lined out to McKinstry, and Waguespack got a routine grounder to Peck from Clement to send us to the eighth. Still 6-0 Tigers.
The eighth started quite strangely. Valencia battled Arrighetti for six pitches. The seventh was fouled off but Valencia took the ball right out of Kirk’s glove. The foul nearly caught Max Clark in the batter’s box, and it was also catcher interference, putting Valencia at first. Clark grounded into a force of Valencia, but Torkelson hammered a 2-1 pitch hard off the left field wall. It was hit so hard and played so well by Smith that the ricochet came straight to him, and Clark was held at third as Torkelson took second.
Clark then made some things happen with his baserunning. His lead from third wasn’t even egregious, but he caught Kirk’s attention and drew a throw after a pitch to McKinstry. Kirk fired to Okamoto, but the throw skipped past him down the left field line. Clark jogged home, and Torkelson read it well and scored from second before Smith could corral the ball. 8-0 Tigers. A Malek, as it’s known colloquially.
McKinstry struck out, but John Peck drew a walk and Brett Callahan entered to hit for McGonigle as it was a good time to rest the rookie infielder. He flew out to center to end the inning.
Kyle Finnegan took over in the bottom of the eighth, while Ben Malgeri entered the game for Riley Greene in left. The way Finnegan is going this year this was optimal usage. Bateman greeted him with a leadoff single, and Finnegan quickly started falling apart. With his splitter ineffective, he had to turn to his fastball and it just isn’t a good one. Springer singled to right, and Guerrero smoked a ball to center that Clark hauled in. Kirk singled in Bateman, and Hinch was done. Brant Hurter was warm and he entered to face Myles Straw, hitting for Lukes. A 1-2 changeup got a grounder to Torres for a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Old friend Joe Mantiply took over in the top of the ninth. Torres lined out, but Hao-Yu Lee is a big believer in eight-run leads. A 1-0 curveball up from Mantiply got absolutely crushed to left field and into the second deck for his ninth homer of the year. 9-1 Tigers.
Ben Malgeri followed with a single that Clement, now at shortstop, had to dive for and couldn’t make a throw. Valencia smoked a double to left, getting Malgeri to third. Clark got jammed a bit by the lefty, but grounder one right between Davis Schneider at second and Clement at short. It wasn’t hit hard, but the two infielders sort of stared at each other as it rolled into right field, scoring Malgeri. 10-1 Tigers.
Mantiply struck out Torkelson, and McKinstry lined out to Clement to end the inning, but man this team is hot right now.
Hurter stayed in there to finish this game, and he quickly got Okamoto to ground out on a nice play by Peck at shortstop. Schneider was up next, and he battled through a lengthy at-bat but Hurter whiffed him with a sweeper, and so it was up to Charles McAdoo, hitting for Smith. He grounded the first pitch to Torkelson ranging off of first base, but his throw was behind Hurter and had to be collected by Valencia as McAdoo was safe. A fly ball to Callahan in right field from Clement ended things.
That is six straight for the suddenly streaking Tigers, but streaks one way or the other seem to be par for the course for them. The Tigers are now five games back in the AL Central, but the Guardians won on Tuesday, and so the Tigers remain 4.5 games out of the Wild Card with 11 games left in the season. Hey, nothing to do but keep winning.
Final: Tigers 10, Blue Jays 1
