It would be a stretch to call the Seattle Mariners rivals of the Detroit Tigers, no matter how much Tigers fans booed Seattle first baseman Josh Naylor on Friday.

But the Tigers have played the Mariners a lot since the beginning of 2025, more than any other non-divisional opponent (12 games) except the Boston Red Sox. And that familiarity may be helping them extend their hot streak.

The Tigers beat the Mariners, 7-3, on Friday, June 5, at Comerica Park in Detroit. The win brought their win streak to four games after a 6-22 record in May left them 16 games under .500.

And two of the best performances of the night came from two players very familiar with what Seattle has to offer – starting pitcher Framber Valdez and right fielder Kerry Carpenter.

Framber Valdez beats a former rival

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn’t seem convinced that the Tigers are all that familiar with the Mariners, with the exception of one key player.

“Except for the playoff series last year, we don’t play them a ton. Framber has,” he said “He’s played them his whole career a lot, and so he’s got a lot of history with that lineup, especially at the top with [Randy] Arozarena and Julio [Rodríguez] and J.P. [Crawford], and so he had to battle and he did.”

Valdez has done well pitching through adversity lately, with Friday’s game adding to a tally of impressive starts in 2026. He only got through five innings, but Valdez pitched through the rain while allowing scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth with two runners on, both times representing game-tying opportunities for the Mariners.

“I wasn’t putting my head down. I was ready to go as deep as I could, and it was in my mind, ‘I’m not going to let him score,’” he said. “When situations needed a big time, I stepped up.”

Friday’s win was Valdez’s sixth start this season of at least five innings allowing one run or fewer, as his clutch pitching helped keep a powerful Seattle team (fourth in the American League in slugging percentage at .398) from doing much damage through the first half of the game.

Valdez’s win makes him 8-4 all-time against the Mariners over 17 regular-season starts (16 of them with the Houston Astros), sporting a 3.43 ERA against Seattle, in line with his career average. His team has won five of his last six games against the Mariners, with Valdez showing out against his old divisional rival for the first time as a Tiger.

THE GAME: Tigers stay hot, beat Mariners 7-3 off Carpenter and Torkelson HRs

The lefty said his familiarity with the lineup helped him on Friday, but that it wasn’t the only thing that led to a win.

“The familiarity helps a lot, but at the end of the day, I gave myself an opportunity to study what I already know and improve the things that I didn’t know,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m just doing my best and giving my best on the field.”

Kerry Carpenter mashes vs Mariners

Carpenter’s third-inning home run against Seattle starter Bryan Woo was his seventh of the year and ninth of his career against the Mariners, including the two home runs he hit against them in last year’s ALDS.

With those two postseason home runs included, Carpenter has more home runs against the Mariners than any other opponent.

“It’s weird because their pitchers are so good and they strike me out a lot, and I happened to get [Woo] a little bit,” he said.

Carpenter finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, but his two-run home run in the third brought the Tigers a 3-1 lead. In his three games since returning from the injured list, Carpenter already has five hits, four RBIs and two home runs, providing pop to a Tigers lineup that suffered a power outage through May.

“[Carpenter] hits the fly ball that carries out of the ballpark, which was a really big blow early just because it was so hard to get the big hit against [Woo],” Hinch said after the game, also praising second baseman Gleyber Torres for his 3-for-4 day. “You want to see what those two guys are worth to this lineup, they contributed in great fashion.”

Torres had the most impressive day at the plate with his two-RBI double in the seventh extending Detroit’s lead to 5-2, while first baseman Spencer Torkelson’s eighth-inning home run ended up the finishing touch on a solid win. But on a night where every Tigers starter recorded at least one hit, it was Carpenters big fly in the third that got the offense going.

The Tigers get five more games against the Mariners this season (two over the next two days to finish out the home series), and Carpenter is looking forward to all of them – and he has a reason for that beyond his historic success against Seattle.

“I love playing them here, but I love playing them in Seattle, too. My wife’s family is from up there, so it’s always fun to be out there.”

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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.

DENVER (AP) — Jake Bauers hit a two-run double in Milwaukee’s four-run 10th inning after Andrew Vaughn’s pinch-hit two-run single capped a four-run ninth and the Brewers held on to beat the Colorado Rockies 9-7 on Friday night.

Milwaukee scored eight runs in the final two innings after going hitless from the second through the eighth innings. The Brewers won for the first time this season when trailing after eight.

Trevor Megill (1-2) blew the save, but got the win for the Brewers. Aaron Ashby allowed two runs — one earned — on Sterlin Thompson’s bases-loaded single in the 10th before getting Brett Sullivan to ground into a double and striking out Jake McCarthy to end it.

Juan Mejia (1-5) got just one out and gave up four runs — three earned — to take the loss for the Rockies.

Colorado took a 3-1 lead into the ninth after Ryan Feltner allowed one hit and a run through six innings and Jaden Hill pitched a scoreless seventh.

Antonio Senzatela struck out the side in the eighth before coming back out for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single to Brice Turang, then threw wide of second going for a double play after snagging a comebacker from William Contreras.

Bauers followed with an RBI single and Sal Frelick doubled in the tying run before Vaughn’s single made it 5-3. Turang’s hit was the first for the Brewers since Bauers doubled in the first inning.

Chad Stevens walked to force in a run against Megill in the ninth, and Hunter Goodman hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at 5.

Goodman hit his 16th homer, a solo shot in the third to make it 3-1. Willi Castro had a two-out double, but Frelick made a diving catch in right on a sinking liner by Ezequiel Tovar to save a run and end the inning.

Brewers starter Brandon Sproat allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. He was relieved by Brian Fitzpatrick, who threw a scoreless sixth, came out for the seventh and was throwing warmup pitches when he reacted in pain and grabbed his left arm. Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters after the game that Fitzpatrick, promoted before the game, would have an MRI but “it doesn’t look good.”

Up next

Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (6-2, 1.65) starts Saturday opposite Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (0-1, 6.37).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Minneapolis has brought in an outside consultant in hopes of improving relations between the city council and mayor’s office.

A $1.4 million contract for “leadership development” and “executive coaching” with Madison, Wisconsin-based Darcy Luoma Coaching & Consulting began in October and is in effect through September 2028, with the option for up to two additional years.

City Clerk Casey Carl initiated the contract in September, and the City Council approved it by a unanimous vote.

Carl said his office brought the proposal to the council with an eye toward the first full four-year term of the mayor and City Council under the new “strong mayor” structure of governance. Darcy Luoma will focus on establishing strategy, norms and collaboration for council members and the mayor’s administration.

In addition to quarterly group sessions with all 13 council members, the mayor and cabinet members, the contract also involves one-on-one sessions and onboarding training for new council members.

While Carl said bringing in outside consultants on leadership strategy is a “very common tool” for city governments, he acknowledged that the contract is “in part a response to what we’ve seen in the previous term,” a reference to the often acrimonious relationship between Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council.

The mayor and council members frequently traded barbs over political disagreements, but perhaps the most extreme example came in August, when City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai cursed Frey on stage at an Uptown music festival. Frey, for his part, has accused council members of engaging in “vote trading and political gamesmanship.”

Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the first session was on its second day when a federal immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis.

A second session recently took place, to positive reviews.

“I do see that there are differences and that people are trying, and it’s a matter of just, yeah, making an effort, and if we make mistakes, try to learn from those mistakes,” Chowdhury said.

Jamison Whiting, a newcomer to the City Council, said being on the inside opened his eyes to why this sort of coaching is necessary.

“This city knows about the toxicity and lack of civility that has happened at City Hall, and so it’s something I have been looking forward to, and it went well,” Whiting said. “Engaging in those conversations, open and honest conversations where we are allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and actively move forward for the City of Minneapolis.”

So far, Whiting said the sessions have produced some norms that guide how officials interact with each other: no personal attacks, communicate in private before having open conflict at the dais, and hold each other accountable.

Frey was not available for an interview on Friday, but in a statement, he expressed his hope that the sessions would lead to more productive governance.

“Minneapolis works best when the people elected to lead it can work through disagreements respectfully and get things done,” Frey said. “We don’t have to agree on everything, but residents expect us to solve problems, not create more of them. If better communication helps us deliver safer streets, more housing, and better city services, that’s a worthwhile investment.” 

Chowdhury was confident her constituents would find the $1.4 million price tag to be a wise expenditure.

“I have only heard from residents that they want us to work our stuff out,” Chowdhury said. “… They don’t like seeing city council members fight over personal things. They don’t like seeing the high level of polarity between the council and the mayor, especially if it isn’t about the issues at hand.”

She said the work will be ongoing to find a sustainable path forward.

“To figure out what skills we need to sort out conflict without a third party, that’s the goal,” she said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Darcy Luomo for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Minneapolis leaders will meet again for a coaching session in late July.

“I think that is how we build shared trust as a body that will hopefully move through the next four years,” said Whiting. “And if that comes at a cost, I think we better make sure we’re putting in the effort and time and trust to actually do that for our constituents.”