The Tigers came out of Cleveland with the kind of series that can only be described as pure baseball whiplash.
Detroit had a shot at a four-game sweep and instead walked away having won once and lost three straight heartbreakers, the last one a 3-2 defeat in 10 innings at Progressive Field on Sunday, Sept. 6. The twist of the final three days was brutal: three walk-off losses in three days.
That has been the Tigers’ season in miniature. They keep getting dragged into one-run games, and they keep coming up short.
They are now 19-46 in games decided by two runs or less, the worst mark in baseball. Those 46 losses are the most in the majors, while the 19 wins are tied for the fewest.
On the road against AL Central teams, Detroit is 0-12 in those close games. They’ve also built leads only to watch them disappear; the Tigers have now lost 42 games in which they led at some point, tied for second-most in baseball behind only the Washington Nationals (43).
This latest one ended when Daniel Schneemann singled off right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan with runners on first and third.
Detroit had been in front 2-0, which only made the finish sting more. The loss dropped the Tigers to 65-78, leaving them 7½ games behind the Guardians (73-71) for the third and final AL wild-card spot with 19 games left.
Jackson Jobe’s day was a study in extremes. The right-hander opened the game in trouble, laboring through a first inning in which he threw 26 pitches and only 11 strikes. Cleveland got on the board when Travis Bazzana doubled in Steven Kwan.
Then Jobe lost the zone completely. He issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to load the bases, bringing pitching coach Chris Fetter out for a mound visit.
The visit didn’t stop the bleeding right away, either. Jobe threw two more balls to Angel Genao, giving him 10 straight balls at that point.
And then, just as quickly, he steadied himself. He struck out Genao and got Patrick Bailey to ground out to escape the inning.
For the next three frames, he looked like a different pitcher entirely, rolling through three perfect innings in a row. But the rhythm vanished again in the sixth, when Brayan Rocchio launched his third homer of the series to tie the game at 2-2. After a Kwan double, Fetter made another trip to the mound, and Jobe worked out of that jam by striking out Jo Adell.
The bullpen handled the rest of regulation from there. Tyler Holton threw a scoreless seventh, Drew Sommers worked a scoreless eighth, and Kenley Jansen delivered a scoreless ninth.
Detroit’s offense did its damage early against Gavin Williams, one of the game’s strikeout heavyweights. Williams came in averaging 11.98 strikeouts per nine innings, third-best in the majors, and he was pumping 100 mph sinkers while striking out Kevin McGonigle to begin the game.
But the Tigers answered with a real scoring chance. Hao-Yu Lee walked, Colt Keith blooped a hit to center, and then Riley Greene kept rolling.
Greene doubled to right to bring in two runs and give Detroit a 2-0 lead.
Greene has been locked in. On Saturday, he homered twice and finished with four hits and four RBIs, and against Williams he added a pair of doubles.
After that early burst, though, Williams settled in and took over. He struck out 11 in six innings, allowing four hits and three walks.
Detroit won’t get much time to sit with this one. The Tigers head back home to open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday at Comerica Park. Right-hander Troy Melton (7-4, 2.20 ERA) is scheduled to start for Detroit, with Drew Anderson (4-5, 3.73) set for Tuesday and Keider Montero (9-8, 3.52) lined up for Wednesday.
The odd part? The Tigers already saw the Twins at the start of this road trip before heading to Cleveland.
First pitch Monday is set for 3:10 p.m. at Comerica Park.
In Other News...
Tigers Bullpen Questions Just Got Stranger With One Pitcher's Status
Enmanuel De Jesus has already had a winding season with the Tigers, bouncing between option and recall more than once as Detroit tried to sort out its bullpen depth. Then came a brief September twist: he was suspended on Sept. 1 for reasons the club has not explained, a move that would have ruled him out of a normal call-up for the stretch run.
The situation took an even stranger turn the next day, when De Jesus was reactivated and pitched immediately after returning. The Tigers still have not publicly addressed either the suspension or where his status stands now, leaving one more bullpen question hanging over a group that has already spent the season in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Bullpen Gets A Late Boost As One Injury Looms Larger
The Tigers got a late-season bullpen lift when they activated left-hander Brant Hurter off the 60-day injured list and sent left-hander Andrew Sears back to Triple-A Toledo. Hurter has been working his way back since late May because of lumbar spine inflammation, and his return gives Detroit another left-handed option as it tries to steady the relief mix down the stretch.
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the club transferred Matt Vierling to the 60-day injured list, a move that underscores how much his injury has altered the picture for 2026 and beyond. Hurter is expected to rejoin the bullpen soon, but the roster shuffle also serves as a reminder that every small gain in the present seems to come with a longer-term cost somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Need One Pitching Prospect To Justify The Tarik Skubal Trade
River Ryans recovery is starting to give the Tigers something to monitor beyond the noise that always follows a trade built around a front-line arm. The pitching prospect, acquired in the Tarik Skubal deal, is coming along from a hamstring injury and is set to throw a bullpen session soon, a small but meaningful checkpoint for a player Detroit is clearly counting on to add value down the line.
There still is no firm return date, which leaves the picture cloudy for now, and the possibilities range from a second-half debut this month to a longer wait that could push his impact into 2026. Evaluators have had concerns about Ryans health and age, but there is still enough belief in his upside that every step in his rehab matters, especially for a Tigers organization trying to make sure one prospect in the package can help justify the price. [Read more 🡒]