Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers surge to winning record with home runs in 6-2 win over Los Angeles Angels
Detroit Tigers’ Javier Báez returns to Wrigley Field
Former Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Báez talks to reporters Aug. 20, 2024, about returning to Wrigley Field for the first time since 2021.
The Detroit Tigers hit three home runs in a span of five plate appearances against Los Angeles Angels right-hander Johnny Cueto, with the three homers combining for 1,272 feet.
All of them were long homers to center field.
Jake Rogers hit a first-pitch fastball 422 feet; Riley Greene hit a middle-middle sinker 425 feet; Kerry Carpenter hit a middle-down changeup 425 feet.
The three homers, headlined by Rogers’ go-ahead swing in the fifth inning, led to a 6-2 win over the Angels in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park. The game didn’t start until 9:25 p.m., rather than 6:40 p.m., because of a rain delay.
“It’s huge,” Rogers said. “Those are big at-bats. I tried to get things going there at the bottom of the lineup and get it up to those guys, Murderers’ Row. Every homer is a good homer.”
The Tigers (67-66) have won five games in a row, exceeding a .500 record for the first time since June 4. The Tigers are 5½ games back of the final spot in the American League wild-card.
They have a 12-3 record in their past 15 games.
“It’s awesome, where we’re at as a team,” Greene said. “We’re not going to change a thing. We’re going to go out there and try to win every game we can.”
Three long homers benefited the Tigers, but not before they took advantage of mistakes from the Angels in the fourth inning, scoring their first two runs of the game.
The Angels made defensive mistakes on Parker Meadows’ triple, Matt Vierling’s RBI double and Kerry Carpenter’s RBI single, but only one error was charged on the three misplays. Regardless, the Tigers grabbed a 2-1 lead.
After the Angels answered back, the Tigers crushed three home runs off Cueto across the fifth and sixth innings.
“He was going to pump strikes,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Johnny Cueto has been a strike-thrower, and he can changes shapes, and he does the shimmy, and he disrupts timing. As a young team, we warned our guys that he’s going to be in full shimmy mode. He didn’t do it quite as much as I anticipated, mostly because we got a few guys on and he was getting really quick outs. We wanted to be aggressive against him.”
Rogers put the Tigers ahead, 3-2, with a two-out solo home run to center field in the fifth. In the sixth, Greene hit a solo homer and Carpenter hit a two-run homer, making it 6-2.
Greene has 19 home runs in 108 games.
“I tell them all the time, ‘If Rog can do it, anybody can do it,’” Rogers said. “It’s fun when you win. It definitely helps when you score a lot of runs.”
The homer from Carpenter chased Cueto, a 17-MLB veteran who allowed six runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts across five-plus innings, throwing 83 pitches. It was the second start in the big leagues this season, following 13 starts in the minor leagues.
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First time starting
Left-hander Brant Hurter — who started 18 of 19 games in Triple-A Toledo — appeared in four games as a long reliever to begin his MLB career, but he started Tuesday for the first time.
Hurter, who turns 26 in early September, gave up two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts, throwing 80 pitches. He found success against a lineup with a lot of right-handed hitters, even without a premier pitch to get righties out.
“It wasn’t too different,” Hurter said. “A lot of lineups I’ve faced take all their lefties out because I’m better against lefties, so it wasn’t something too new. It was one lefty. I think I did that in Triple-A, so it wasn’t anything crazy.”
RACKING UP WINS: Detroit Tigers haven’t been .500 this late into season since 2016
The Angels scored one run apiece in the first and fifth innings, thanks to Nolan Schanuel’s RBI single in the first and Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Hurter retired 10 batters in a row from one out in the first inning through two outs in the fourth inning. He also stranded two runners in scoring position in the first inning, which he advanced with a balk, when he struck out Anthony Rendon looking with a sweeper that painted the corner of the strike zone.
Hurter has a 3.57 ERA with three walks and 21 strikeouts across 22.2 innings in five games (one start) in his MLB career.
“I wasn’t too happy with my outing,” Hurter said. “I wasn’t landing my offspeed at all. I was getting away with the sinker. I don’t think I pitched well by any means.”
After Hurter, the Tigers picked up scoreless efforts from right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee, right-handed reliever Shelby Miller and right-handed reliever Jason Foley. In the ninth, Foley recorded the final out after Miller allowed two batters to reach safely with two outs.
Hanifee retired all eight batters he faced, covering 2⅔ innings.
“He can really go into attack mode with the two-seam, four-seam and an occasional slider,” Hinch said. “Eight up, eight down was really the key outs of the game. When I took Hurter out, that’s a lot of game left and a lot of pitching that needed to be used.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Detroit, MI
The first Detroit Lions OC candidate has emerged
Blough is only two years into his coaching career after retiring from playing after the 2023 season. He has spent the last two seasons as the Washington Commanders’ assistant quarterbacks coach, helping young quarterback Jayden Daniels emerge as a strong franchise player for Washington. Late in the 2025 season, Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard took the Stanford head coaching job, leaving Blough to serve as the interim quarterbacks coach for the rest of the season.
While backing up Jared Goff in Detroit, Blough was often described by the coaching staff as an excellent backup and strong offensive mind.
“I love the kid, if I’m being totally honest with you,” Campbell said back in 2021. “He’s just a little football player. And when I say that, I mean that in the highest regard. Look, he’s smart. He’s extremely smart. He knows where to go with the football, I love his timing. He knows how to command the huddle, he communicates well and on top of that, he’s a hell of a dude, by the way. He just is. So, he has not disappointed. He’s doing a good job. He’s out there competing with the rest of those guys.”
As of now, this is the only known candidate for the Lions’ offensive coordinator position, but it’s still early in the process. When more candidates emerge, we’ll have a tracker so you can see all of the names in one place.
Detroit, MI
Popular Detroit sports columnist announces stage 4 cancer diagnosis
Longtime Detroit sports radio host and columnist Pat Caputo has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he announced Monday.
Caputo, a host on Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket, last published a column on Nov. 7. On Monday, he explained the reason behind his absence.
“For those wondering where I’ve been: I have been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, commonly referred to as a “death sentence” and had two other serious ailments which put me in ICU for several days,” Caputo wrote in a post to X. “It was sudden. I’ve literally been on my back for weeks. Bless you all.”
Caputo, 66, became a well-known personality in Detroit sports media during his time as an award-winning columnist for The Oakland Press from 1983-2020, according to the Detroit Free Press. He also was previously part of WXYT’s “Evening Sports” broadcast, and is an official voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and college football’s Heisman Trophy award, according to his X bio.
Caputo is nicknamed “The Book” for his impressive memory retaining sports stats and information, according to FOX 2 in Detroit, where he has been a regular guest on its “Sports Works” broadcast.
Caputo’s social media announcement regarding his health drew support from fellow sports media professionals, including Brad Galli, sports director at WXYZ Detroit, and ESPN’s Dan Wetzel and Dave Pasch.
“Pat, we’re praying for [you],” Galli wrote. “Awful awful awful to read this, man. God bless you.”
“Legend. Stay strong my friend. So much support out here for you,” Wetzel posted.
“Book, praying for you my friend. So sorry to hear this,” Pasch wrote.
Detroit, MI
Murder trial starts this week in death of Detroit neurosurgeon Devon Hoover
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Desmond Burks’ murder trial starts this week. On Monday, he attended his pre-trial hearing. Burks faces first-degree murder, felony murder and larceny charges in the death of Dr. Devon Hoover.
The prominent Detroit neurosurgeon was found dead in his attic in April 2023 after Detroit police performed a wellness check. Investigators said he had been shot twice in the head and his body was wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet.
Watch Darren Cunningham’s video report below:
Trial set to begin in Dr. Devon Hoover murder case
At the pre-trial, Judge Paul Cusick set the tone for how he expects the trial to go. It could last several weeks, according to court administration.
“Obviously, there’s always been respect shown to this court by the defendant and attorneys in this case, and all of the witnesses need to show the respect that is going to be required. There will be no outburst from any witnesses or anyone else during the proceedings,” the judge said.
Cusick discussed scheduling for the trial, starting with jury selection Wednesday and outlined restrictions for news media.
“Media is prohibited from showing and/or publishing the faces of any civilian witnesses not employed by the government,” he read.
WXYZ
Those same restrictions were in place during the preliminary hearing.
At the prelim, a number of people testified that they were former lovers of Desmond Burks.
Those men and women described Burks as a hustler and said he would send them money from an unknown Cash App and then have them send the money back to his Cash App.
Watch our coverage of the third day of the preliminary hearing below:
Day 3 concludes in Desmond Burks’ preliminary hearing in murder of Dr. Devon Hoover
Burks is accused of stealing more than $30,000 from Hoover via credit card and fraudulent bank transactions, and Burks allegedly used other people to execute his plan.
Investigators said text messages revealed Burks had an intimate relationship with Hoover and was sometimes paid for sexual services.
Watch our coverage of the second day of the preliminary hearing below:
Mystery backpack focus of testimony during day 2 of Hoover preliminary hearing
Testimony from the prelim also revealed that authorities zeroed in on Burks, in part, through cellphone records and surveillance footage involving Hoover’s stolen truck.
During the trial, we may hear from a close relative of Burks who identified him in surveillance footage during the prelim. The footage allegedly shows Burks walking away from Hoover’s stolen vehicle.
Watch our coverage of the first day of the preliminary hearing below:
Preliminary hearing begins for man charged with killing Dr. Devon Hoover
The jury selection process is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
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