The Detroit Tigers began the 2026 season with a west coast road trip, taking the first 2 games from the Padres. After dropping game 3 in San Diego the Tigers got swept in Arizona by the diamondbacks, capped with a 1-0 loss today in a game where ace Tarik Skubal threw 7 innings of 1 run ball.
The offense struggled mightily in the series with the Diamondbacks, scoring one run today, Detroit scored 5 runs yesterday in one inning, and went scoreless the other 8 innings. The biggest contributors on offense in this series were Kevin McGonigle who’s hitting .333 with a .873 OPS, Colt Keith has also been impressive, batting .389 with an OPS of 1.006. The Tigers will look to get some more consistent production on the homestand from Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter.
Justin Verlander, Casey Mize, and Tarik Skubal all made starts against the Diamondbacks. JV had a rocky return outing giving up 5 earned runs in 3.2 innings. Casey Mize shined in his first start of 2026 going 6 innings with 9 strikeouts and only allowing 1 earned run. Tarik Skubal looked to be in mid season form today going 7 innings and only surrendering 1 ER.
The Tigers have their home opener this Friday at 1pm against the St. Louis Cardinals, Framber Valdez will take the ball for Detroit in the home opener.