Tigers defense forgot to thaw out dinner.
The third Sunday in June is Father’s Day, so don’t forget to thank those fathers in your lives. The Tigers and Reds played the third game of the series at Comerica Park, with each team blowing out the other one for a 1-1 split. It was a gorgeous summer day at the park, a perfect day for baseball. Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a nightmare game for the home team.
Tyler Holton got the start as an opener for the Tigers. He’s been shakier this season, so a good outing would be a great way to calm fears that he was burned out from last year’s use. A good outing is exactly what he was able to deliver, with a groundout from TJ Friedl, a swinging strikeout from Matt McLain, and another groundout from Elly De La Cruz.
Wade Miley took the bump for the Reds. He was recently alleged in a lawsuit by former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ family to have provided painkillers to Skaggs when both were teammates on the Diamondbacks. Miley isn’t the subject of the lawsuit or under any criminal investigation, but the question was how well he could pitch with something that heavy hanging over him.
In the first, he got Jahmai Jones to fly out but walked Gleyber Torres. A ground ball to short looked like a tailor-made double play but the umpire at second ruled Torres safe and the throw to first was high, allowing Riley Greene to reach safely. The Reds challenged the safe call at second, as Torres had run all the way to third on the play. It turned out that the initial attempt at stepping on the bag missed, but on the throw to first the fielder was able to just drag his toe across the bag before releasing the ball, so Torres was out. Dillon Dingler struck out swinging, and that was that.
Sawyer Gipson-Long relieved Holton, planning to be the bulk pitcher of the day. He had a low-stress inning, getting a flyout, groundout, and strikeout.
Miley retired the first two batters before Wenceel Pérez smacked a ball all the way to the fence for a 2-out double. Javy Báez walked, putting some pressure on, but Parker Meadows had a rough at-bat and grounded out.
In the third, defense was highlighted for the Tigers. After a flyout, a scalded ball ole’d Báez, ricocheting off his glove for a single. A shallow pop fly threatened to bloop in but Zach McKinstry made a fine running snag over his head. Friedl battled and worked a walk as Gipson-Long’s command started to fade a bit. Thankfully, McLain flied out, ending the threat.
Jones led off the bottom of the frame with a big home run to left center. He’s done nothing but hit since his call-up, even in a limited role. Torres followed it up with a double but the heart of the order couldn’t get it done as Miley buckled down, stranding the runner.
Things got a bit rough in the top of the 4th. De La Cruz led off with a ball that Gipson-Long panicked on, throwing it into right field; the runner took second on the error. Bad defense from pitchers and infielders both would develop into the theme of this game.
Tyler Stephenson singled to right and the speedy De La Cruz easily scored from second. A pitch shattered the bat of the man with the longest name in baseball, Christian Encarnacion-Strand. The bat and ball both flew towards Báez, who tried to field the ball and make a throw to third but whiffed on it as the bat landed right in front of him, allowing everyone to be safe. A sac fly scored Stephenson, giving the Reds the lead. Gipson-Long rebounded to induce a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, sparkplug Pérez hit a ball that just kept carrying, getting over the fence for a game-tying home run. We’ve rarely seen him provide so much juice while hitting right-handed. Nothing much else happened the rest of the frame, but the score was tied.
Chase Lee relieved Gipson-Long and immediately got into trouble by allowing a leadoff double, followed by a walk. With the pressure mounting, he got a flyout and a ground ball double play to escape.
The Tigers responded by going 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Lee remained out and himself induced a 1-2-3 inning as the score remained tied.
Scott Barlow came on for the Reds in the sixth. Dillon Dingler got a leadoff single, but the next three batters did a whole lot of nothing, stranding him.
Brant Hurter got the top of the 7th for the Tigers. He started off well, retiring Connor Joe on a groundout that was a great play by McKinstry. However, Gavin Lux and light-hitting Santiago Espinal singled back-to-back. Spencer Steer pinch-hit and battled before hitting into an easily turned double play.
With a new pitcher on in Graham Ashcraft, Báez got it going after the stretch by slicing a cutter the other way down the right field line, racing to second for a double. Meadows attempted a sac bunt but failed pretty spectacularly, putting it right back to the pitcher. Kerry Carpenter pinch-hit for Jones. He struck out swinging, leaving it up to Torres. On the first pitch, he hit a ground ball that somehow split the left side of the infield (as both fielders dove for it) and drove in Báez. 3-2 Tigers, and Torres took second on the throw home. Greene hit a ball all the way to the fence in center field, doubling and scoring Torres. Dingler hit a deep fly ball himself, but Connor Joe was able to track it down. However, after seven innings it was 4-2 Tigers.
Hurter remained on the mound in the 8th but made one of the most baffling plays you will ever see. A soft ground ball died right at his feet. He went to scoop it, missed, panicked, grabbed the ball, lightly jogged towards first (the runner wasn’t fully hustling), then for some reason tossed it like a bowling ball in the dirt. It scooted by Tork and allowed Friedl to reach safely.
Will Vest was brought in to put out the fire and made it worse. He gave up consecutive singles to score a run. A strikeout looking helped things a lot. With the speedy De La Cruz on first, a sharp grounder was hit to McKinstry who bobbled it. He threw to second, and the turn to first….and both runners were safe. Mind-bogglingly bad defense on the day.
So the bases were now loaded for a pinch-hitting Will Benson. After falling behind 3-1, Vest induced a fly ball to right that tied the game with a sac fly. Lux hit a single, driving home a run. Vest threw a high wild pitch to Espinal that was way above Dingler, allowing a runner to scamper home. The kicker is, there may have been a play at the plate but Vest failed to cover home in time to make a play on Dingler’s throw to him. The reason was quickly revealed by replay as Vest was seen shaking his arm and had to be pulled from the game. AJ Hinch had to come out to get him and bring in Brenan Hanifee. A liner was snagged by Torres, finally ending the inning but the Tigers were now down 6-4. None of the four runs were earned.
Will Vest is now leaving the game with a trainer. He motioned to the dugout after the wild pitch.
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) June 15, 2025
We’ll have to wait for Vest’s status, but losing a game or a series means nothing compared to potentially losing the Tigers’ best reliever for a stretch. Hopefully it’s nothing major.
After the game, AJ Hinch said that Vest had a “feeling in his pinky” that was bothering him as he threw the last pitch. He’ll undergo testing with the off day on Monday, and hopefully we’ll have a better idea of his status before the Tigers welcome in the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
A.J. Hinch on Will Vest’s situation: “He looked at the dugout after the (wild pitch). He said he had this feeling in his pinky. It was bothering him, so we took him out. We’ll get him evaluated, and he’ll run through the whole battery of tests. I have no idea what it is.”
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) June 15, 2025
Emilio Pagán was brought in for the bottom of the 8th. Tork struck out on a nasty slider, McKinstry lined out, and Pérez walked. The tying run came to the plate in Javy Báez. He popped it up immediately to shallow right field. Sigh.
Hanifee stayed out for the 9th. He got the first two batters out before McLain hit a single through the infield. De La Cruz was on a three-game home run streak and looking to extend it. So of course, Hanifee left a ball right where he could hit it out of the park for a two-run bomb. Stephenson then struck out, but the damage was done.
Tony Santillan was brought in to finish the game for the Reds. Colt Keith pinch-hit for Meadows and scalded a ball to shortstop, grounding out. Carpenter struck out looking on a 96 mph pitch away. That brought up Torres, the last hope for the team. He singled to left field, keeping things alive. It didn’t matter as Greene struck out looking. 8-4 Reds
The Reds took advantage of an incredibly sloppy Tigers defense to come back and win a game that should have gone to the home team. FIVE unearned runs are not going to give your team much of a chance, and is was a highly uncharacteristic game for the home team. The Tigers have an off day before three games against the Pirates at Comerica Park.