The Detroit Tigers missed a chance to secure a series win over the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, dropping the second of the three-game series, 3-1. Despite tossing a quality start, Drew Anderson was saddled with the loss while the offense barely made a peep at Comerica Park.
Making his final start of the 2026 campaign in Game 3 is left-hander Framber Valdez — the lone survivor from the Tigers’ pitching rotation from the beginning of the season. While his overall numbers fall significantly
short of what one would expect for his level of pay, the 32-year-old has been a mostly steady presence on the pitching staff, save for his short suspension in May.
Valdez is finishing the season on a strong note, having put up a 1.50 ERA and 3.71 FIP over his three games in September, allowing 12 hits (one home run) and seven walks while striking out 13 plus a hit-by-pitch across 18 innings to earn a pair of wins along with a loss.
For the Nats, fellow southpaw Richard Lovelady will take the mound looking to give the team a series win in his sixth start of the season. The 31-year-old journeyman was with the New York Mets to begin the season and served primarily as a back-end reliever; he has become something of a Swiss Army arm for Washington since acquiring him in a trade in mid-April.
Lovelady has not thrown more than two innings in an appearance this season, so he ostensibly will be serving in the opener role on Wednesday.
Here is a quick look at the stats for both pitchers in the series finale.
Detroit Tigers (74-84) vs. Washington Nationals (74-84)
Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site: Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 159: LHP Framber Valdez (10-11, 4.06 ERA) vs. LHP Richard Lovelady (3-4, 3.86 ERA)
VALDEZ
LOVELADY
