Scenes from a Tigers victory: A daunting catch, a daring escape and another unlikely hero

New York Times

16 hours ago

DETROIT — Here was another dilemma. Sweat beat down on Tarik Skubal's head Friday under a strange summer haze. Smoke from Canadian wildfires infiltrated the Detroit sky and lingered as dusk descended on Comerica Park. The best pitcher in baseball was at 94 pitches. He had just surrendered back-to-back singles. There were runners on the corners and two outs. The Tigers were clinging to a 2-1 lead.
Advertisement
In Skubal's previous outing, manager A.J. Hinch removed him after seven innings and 90 pitches. Reliever Beau Brieske surrendered the lead to the Kansas City Royals in the eighth. Skubal keeps pitching so well that it's creating difficult decisions for his manager.
Friday, Hinch again called to the bullpen. Right-hander Will Vest entered to face Seiya Suzuki, who was 0-for-3 against Skubal but entered play with a 1.173 OPS against left-handed pitching. The move made logical sense but still required some gumption.
'Suzuki is the at-bat of the game,' Hinch said. 'It's the most leverage, it's the biggest spot, and we've got to get a righty on him at that moment.'
The right-handed Vest has been a dynamic force in his own right this season, the owner of a 1.72 ERA. So in the top of the eighth, Vest threw a 1-2 fastball that caught too much of the plate. Suzuki appeared to swing under the ball. It left his bat at a 39-degree launch angle.
At the dais after the game, Hinch mimicked his thought process as the ball traveled through the air.
'OK,' Hinch thought for a moment, 'we got out of it.'
But Suzuki's hit hung in the sky like a disco ball, slowly drifting deeper into the hazy twilight.
'I was like: 'Stay here. Stay in the ballpark,'' Hinch said.
There at the wall, Kerry Carpenter, the right-fielder whose defense has been an adventure as of late, peeked toward the padding and ran. He always thought he'd make the catch, he said. Finally, the sphere came crashing toward the earth. Carpenter jumped. Extended his glove. And … there it was. Ball met leather. Carpenter made the catch, might have robbed a home run, and certainly kept the Tigers' lead intact.
Now watching as a spectator, Skubal pumped his fists and shouted in celebration.
'You're doing everything you can in the dugout to reel it back in,' Skubal said.
KERRY CARPENTER IS A BAD MAN.#VoteTigers ⭐️ https://t.co/JrsIBeU1cG pic.twitter.com/R7fLP3HsAX
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 7, 2025
That was the peak of another dramatic Tigers victory, 3-1 against the Chicago Cubs, this one a win that encapsulated so much of what has made this team so good all season.
The Tigers entered as the best team in the American League. The Cubs entered as the best team in the National League. Detroit was coming off a sleepy series on the South Side, where it split four games with the last-place Chicago White Sox. The Cubs rolled into town having won four out of five.
Skubal was on the mound. The park was sold out. The game was flying by.
Advertisement
The Tigers struck first in the fifth. Gleyber Torres, the second baseman they shrewdly signed on a one-year deal this winter, hit a shrieking line drive over shortstop to bring home a run. The Cubs tied the score when Kyle Tucker doubled home rookie Matt Shaw in the sixth.
And then the Tigers did what they have been doing all year. Finding ways. Some way, any way.
Spencer Torkelson, entering on a 3-for-27 slump despite a redemptive season that will merit All-Star consideration, got down 0-2. Cubs starter Ben Brown threw three consecutive knuckle curves low, scraping the dirt. Torkelson took all three. Full count. Then he got a fastball. Torkelson smoothed out his swing, found his timing and detonated a blast that sent the ball crescendoing over the left-field fence. It was Torkelson's 15th home run of the year. The Tigers pulled ahead.
That set the stage for the drama in the eighth. The Tigers escaped with the lead.
Along the way, they benefited from a series of sterling defensive plays. Riley Greene caught a ball and crashed into the left-field wall. Javier Báez played impeccable shortstop, even redirected a throw from left in the fifth to nab Pete Crow-Armstrong, who ran past the base at third on a late stop sign, then was called out floundering back to the bag. Dillon Dingler threw out Shaw for a key out in the eighth.
'That was an absolute clinic by the guys,' Torkelson said.
The Tigers have started wearing T-shirts with one of Hinch's mantras printed on the back. Everything matters.
'Everything matters in every game,' Hinch said. 'Everything matters to a greater extent in a close game. And any one of those plays could have changed the whole complexion of the score.'
And in the ninth, a little more poetry.
Before the game, the Tigers sent down Andy Ibáñez, their longtime right-handed-hitting specialist who has lost all feel in the box. Ibáñez was coming off a lackluster series against the White Sox, slumbering at the plate for much of the past two weeks, and the Tigers needed to infuse their offense, particularly with right-handed help. They brought up Jahmai Jones, a 2015 second-round pick who's on his fifth MLB team at 27 years old.
Advertisement
Jones has a unique connection to this city. His late father, Andre, was a defensive end for the Detroit Lions in 1992. His older brother, T.J., also played four seasons for the Lions as a wide receiver. In spring, Jones talked of all these connections, of the family legacy, of what it would mean to actually make it to Detroit. He impressed in spring but did not make the team. He lingered in Toledo, where his name was hardly mentioned in the endless roster talks that percolate through the season. But finally the Tigers sent down Ibáñez to find himself. Jones got the chance. He arrived at Comerica Park around 2:30 p.m. and launched straight into game prep.
After first pitch, he sat near injured utility player Matt Vierling, talking about the best way to prepare for the possibility of a late-game pinch hit chance.
Hinch called Jones' number in the ninth. And what did he do on his first pitch? He got a hanging curveball, then launched a looping torpedo over the left-field fence. This was his first bat, his first pitch, as a Detroit Tiger. And it was his first home run, only the second of his major-league career.
He retreated to the dugout, saw Vierling and started laughing.
'I told you how to get ready!' Vierling shouted.
'My guy!' Jones said in response.
In the bottom of the ninth, 40,000 people rose to their feet. Vest — once a Rule 5 pick who was returned to the Tigers after a mediocre stint with the Seattle Mariners — closed the door for the 10th time this season.
Hinch was asked about the idea of his Tigers meeting the moment. Tough matchup, national broadcast, big crowd, all that. He practically shrugged.
'I appreciate the thought of raising the bar,' Hinch said. 'The bar is pretty high around here.'
(Top photo of Will Vest: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)