On Friday night, the Detroit Tigers accomplished the feat of giving up a walkoff loss in seven straigth road series. Per Elias Sports Bureau, they joined the 1992 Chicago White Sox as the only two teams to manage this since expansion began back in 1961. Surely, such weirdness would satisfy the baseball gods and lead to a Tigers’ victory on Saturday? No, they are not satisfied, and the offense continued to sleepwalk on Saturday until the pitching staff finally crumbled late.
You already know how it
ended, but this one didn’t start off too auspiciously either. The Tigers went in order in the top of the first against lefty Anthony Kay. Framber Valdez immediately got into trouble in the bottom of the first.
Chase Meidroth led off with a double to left field, and Valdez walked Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery to load the bases with no outs. A wild pitch allowed Meidroth to score, and it was 1-0 still with no outs in the inning. Randal Grichuk lined out to Kevin McGonigle for the first out. Edgar Quero lifted a sac fly out to Matt Vierling in center field, scoring Vargas from third. A pair of good slider from Valdez tied up Andrew Benintendi and he struck out to end the inning. It could’ve been much worse, but that was a quick 2-0 lead for the plucky young White Sox club.
Riley Greene struck out on a Kay slider to open the second inning. Spencer Torkelson and Jahmai Jones, the latter of what do you do here exactly, fame, grounded out. Valdez had settled in and he tossed a quick 1-2-3 inning of his own to open the third frame.
Wenceel Pérez’s bat has finally perked up after a disastrous first third of a season. He really looks like he’s just gone into swing mode, and to heck with controlling the zone. Just look for something you can drive. Since he doesn’t strike out much, have at it I suppose. That something was an 0-2 fastball above the strike zone. Pérez launched it to left center field and out for a solo shot that made it 2-1 White Sox. That was Pérez’s fifth homer, and that 2-1 score would hold true for quite a long time.
Hao-Yu Lee followed with a sharp drive to left field, but Sam Antonacci hauled it in. Zack Short struck out, but Kevin McGonigle came up with a single to right field to keep the inning going, but Dillon Dingler grounded out to shortstop Luisangel Acuña.
Valdez was locked into his rhythm by now, and a one-out Miguel Vargas single was followed by a Colson Montgomery double play ball to Short at shortstop. He stepped on second base and fired to Spencer Torkelson in time to turn two.
Matt Vierling grounded out to start the fourth inning, but Greene and Torkelson spanked ground balls through the infield for singles. That brought Jones to the dish, and he promptly grounded into an inning ending double play. Well, we had some good times in 2025, Jahmai, but I can’t really remember them now.
Valdez continued to roll, racking up three more quick outs in order in the bottom of the fourth. Benintendi whiffed on the slider again to strike out again, ending the inning.
Again the Tigers experimented with TTBDNS in the fifth. Lee singled up the middle with one out in the fifth, and Short drew a walk to set the Tigers up with the top of the order coming up. It still didn’t help. McGonigle grounded into a force of Short, and Dingler grounded out to end that minor threat. Brutal.
Acuña tried to surprise Valdez with a bunt attempt to open the bottom half, but McGonigle adroitly handled that, and Valdez punched out Antonacci. Rikuu Nishida grounded out to send us the sixth, and the game was at least proceeding briskly at this point. It was still 2-1 White Sox.
Matt Vierling gave the Tigers an opportunity with a single to open the sixth. Riley Greene lifted a fly ball to right that Grichuk just dropped. He recovered the bounce and fired to second to get Vierling, who had to wait expecting that ball to be caught. The Tigers challenged, and they were correct as Vierling was ruled safe by a hair, putting two on with no outs. Surely this was the time for the Tigers to pounce?
That brought a ptiching change, ending Kay’s afternoon. Hard-throwing Grant Taylor took over and quickly blew away Torkelson. Colt Keith pinch-hit for Jones against the right-handed Taylor, and flew out to center field. Pérez grounded out to end the threat, and you could feel Tigers’ fans moving on with their day. Valdez was still up to the task, allowing a hard-hit two out double to Colson Montgomery. Grichuk lined a hard hit ball to right, but Pérez ran it down to end the inning.
Taylor went through the Tigers like a weed eater in the top of the seventh. Needing baserunners, Lee was locked up by a well located fastball. Zach McKinstry pinch-hit for Short, and he too struck out. Kevin McGonigle chased a 99 mph heater up out of the zone to punch out as well. Le sigh.
Valdez’s pitch count was still in pretty good shape, and the Tigers were still behind, so he came back out for the bottom of the seventh. It did not go well. Edgar Quero got a 2-1 curveball down and in and he launched it to left for a solo shot to make it a 3-1 game. Benintendi followed with a double and things looked bleak. Acuña flew out to right field, and Antonacci grounded out, moving Benintendi to third. Would Valdez escape? No, he would not. Nishida singled to right, and it was a 4-1 game.
That ended Valdez’s day. Through six innings it was a pretty nice outing, but it fell apart in the end. AJ Hinch called on Beau Brieske to make an appearance in relief. Just up with the Tigers, Brieske hadn’t found his command during his rehab work in Toledo, so he wasn’t really ready for this, but the Tigers had nothing else to offer in terms of relief “help” and Brieske retired Meidroth on a drive to Vierling in center field.
Would the Tigers respond in the eighth?
No, of course not. Seranthony Dominguez got Dingler on a line out. Gage Workman hit for Vierling and grounded out, and Riley Greene struck out. Cool, cool.
Brieske punched out Vargas to start the bottom of the eighth, but Montgomery turned on a 96.6 mph heater on the inner edge and crushed it to right for a solo shot to make it 5-1. Brieske punched out Grichuk, but Quero singled, and Benintendi followed Montgomery’s example, mashing a 1-1 fastball into the right field seats. 7-1 White Sox. It took a Dingler challenge to retire Acuña and mercifully end the inning.
Spencer Torkelson led off the top of the ninth with a single off of Trevor Richards and that was cute, but they went in order from there to end this.
The suffering continues. Hopefully you’re getting a little numb at this point. The Tigers will try again at 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. RHP Keider Montero will go up against the White Sox’s RHP Sean Burke.
