Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubal slammed by Cleveland Guardians, 7-3, in Game 5 of ALDS

CLEVELAND — Guardians centerfielder Lane Thomas ended the Detroit Tigers’ season with one swing off the best pitcher in the American League.
After cruising through a relatively smooth first four innings, Tarik Skubal, the AL pitching Triple Crown winner, found himself in trouble in the bottom of the fifth and couldn’t escape.
Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan and David Fry loaded the bases with one out on three singles, setting up Skubal against All-Star José Ramírez. Skubal tried to challenge Ramírez inside with a 99.9 mph fastball but hit Cleveland’s slugger on the hand to plate Cleveland’s first run and tie the game at 1.
Next up was Thomas after a mound visit, and he crushed the first pitch he saw — a 96.7 mph sinker down the middle — for a grand slam to put Cleveland ahead 5-1 and light the crowd’s fuse to stand and cheer nonstop the final four innings.
CATCHING UP: Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians ALDS Game 5 updates
Cleveland’s five-run inning proved enough to outlast Detroit’s furious rally attempts late. The Tigers scrapped out two more runs but couldn’t catch Cleveland, ultimately falling 7-3. Skubal gave up five of the seven runs, which ties the most he allowed in a start in 2024. He pitched six innings, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts.
The Tigers finished with a 90-79 record over 169 games including the seven-game postseason run (86-76 in regular season). It is the second straight time the Tigers have lost in the ALDS after making the postseason. The Guardians advance to face the New York Yankees in the ALCS, starting Monday.
Attempted comeback falls short
The Tigers got one run back in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Jake Rogers and worked the bases loaded with two outs to bring slugger Kerry Carpenter up as the potential go-ahead run with the score at 5-2. But Carpenter missed on a high fastball for strike three to end the threat.
In the seventh, Colt Keith doubled off the centerfield wall to score Riley Greene from first, but the Tigers ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts. Thomas drove in another run in the seventh inning to push Cleveland’s lead back up to 6-3.
Closer Emmanuel Clase came on with a runner on in the eighth inning for a would-be six-out save and shut down the Tigers, including striking out Carpenter to end the inning and staring him down as he walked off the mound. Cleveland added another insurance run and Clase pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the series win.
A STUNNING STORY: Stressful? You bet. But if Detroit Tigers say this ALDS Game 5 will be fun, have some.
One hamstring heroics
Carpenter’s status was in question the past 48 hours after he left Game 4 early with a hamstring injury. But the left-handed slugger was available off the bench and immediately made an impact despite still being clearly hobbled.
In the top of the fifth inning, Trey Sweeney drew a leadoff walk and Carpenter subbed in for leadoff hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy to face right-handed reliever Andrew Walters. Carpenter still had his same lightning-quick swing and connected with a Walters fastball in a 3-1 count. He drove it 370 feet to the wall in right-center field to plate Sweeney from first and briefly put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
Kwan’t get out
Steven Kwan earned a reputation as an absolute thorn in the Tigers’ sides for all five games. He came into Game 5 batting .500 (8-for-16) in the series and finished with a third straight three-hit game to finish 11-for-21 (.523) in the series. He set a Guardians franchise record with three straight three-hit games and for most hits in a Division Series with 11. Kwan kicked off the fifth inning rally with an opposite-field single off Skubal that snuck under Matt Vierling’s glove at third.
Kwan finished Game 5 with three hits in five appearances and two runs scored, while Thomas went 2-for-4 with five RBIs.
Kwan along with Thomas would be up for series MVP if it existed for the ALDS. Thomas had the game-winning hits in Games 1 and 5, both on massive home runs to left with runners on base, while Kwan reached base 13 times in just five games.
Couldn’t convert early
The Tigers had traffic on the basepaths in the first two innings, but couldn’t get a run across the plate against former Tiger Matthew Boyd. Justyn-Henry Malloy was hit by the first pitch of the game, and Riley Greene walked to put two runners on with one out in the first inning. But Boyd struck out Andy Ibáñez and Wenceel Pérez to end the threat.
Parker Meadows hit a one-out double the opposite way down the line and then stole third to get a runner 90 feet away with one out, but Rogers popped out and Sweeney struck out to keep it scoreless. Boyd was pulled after the two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Cade Smith replaced Boyd and pitched into the fourth inning, where the Tigers created another threat. Spencer Torkelson ripped a two-out double to chase Smith and Meadows walked the next at-bat, but Rogers grounded out.
The Tigers finished the series 5-for-46 (.108) with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-12 in Game 5.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.

Detroit, MI
Tornado, Large Hail, 60 MPH Winds Possible Across Detroit Area Sunday

SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN — Severe storms are expected across southeastern Michigan on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
All of southeastern Michigan is under a slight risk (2/5) for severe weather Sunday.
The storms are expected to move into the area between 4 and 11 p.m. Sunday when highs climb into the low 70s, according to the weather service.
Forecasters warned the storms could produce heavy downpours, large hail up to 1 inch in diameter, strong winds reaching up to 60 miles per hour and isolated tornadoes.
Colder air will then move into the region Monday with highs topping out in the low 50s, according to the weather service.
The cold air will stick around Tuesday before another warm-up on Wednesday when another round of showers and thunderstorms could move into the region. Forecasters warned those storms could also become severe.
Here is the full forecast for southeastern Michigan:
Sunday: Storms; High 70, Low 45
Monday: Cloudy; High 52, Low 30
Tuesday: Sunny; High 43, Low 33
Wednesday: Storms; High 64, Low 53
Thursday: Rain; High 64, Low 42
Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers Star ‘An Ace in Any Era’ Rightfully Atop Starting Pitcher Rankings

The 2025 regular season didn’t get off to the kind of start that the Detroit Tigers and their ace, Tarik Skubal, were hoping for.
Facing the tall task of going up against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Day, the Tigers came up just short. They lost the game 5-4 as their star had an off night on the mound.
Skubal pitched five innings, allowing six hits and one walk, resulting in four earned runs being scored against him, with only two strikeouts.
That kind of success against the dominant lefty is rarely had. There were only 10 starts in 2024 that a team recorded at least six hits against Skubal and only six that he surrendered four runs; on five of those occasions, at least four were earned.
Only once last year did he record under five strikeouts as well.
Far from the kind of outing that Skubal has become accustomed to providing, but going up against the Dodgers is a tall task; they can make even the best pitchers look human on any given day.
Despite the underwhelming Opening Day outing, it doesn’t change his standing as the best starting pitcher in baseball, which MLB insiders voted him over at The Athletic (paid subscription required) in a piece put together by Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharm.
Skubal received the only perfect score of 100 to land as the sole player inside “The Inner Circle” tier of the article.
The evaluators and insiders were running out of superlatives to describe him with as everyone provided the Detroit ace with glowing reviews.
“An ace in any era,” an evaluator said.
“Best there is right now,” one scout said.
What separates Skubal is his ability to beat opponents in various ways. He isn’t overly reliant on one facet of his game to generate outs, which is what makes him so special.
The strike zone is peppered with regularity, but opponents can’t take advantage because he can miss bats with ease. Barrelling up an offering is not easy and he generates ground balls at an impressive rate to limit damage.
Possessing arguably the best changeup in baseball, he pairs it with a fastball he has no qualms about challenging hitters with.
“Skubal is, as another evaluator put it, “a monster not afraid to challenge you with a ‘f— you’ fastball,’” they added in the blurb.
That combination of stuff and command is what led to him winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2024, recording the pitching Triple Crown in the process.
Health was the only knock against him previously but if he can stay healthy, he is going to put together an incredible resume over the next few years stocked with accolades and awards.
Detroit, MI
19-year-old man charged in 2022 murder of Detroit father of 3

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Alisa Sanders was close to giving up hope that her son’s killer would ever be caught after nearly three years went by since he was shot on Detroit’s west side.
But when she got a call from the Detroit Police Department saying that a man had been taken into custody, her hope changed.
“Hopeful, prayerful — that’s how I feel,” Sanders said.
Sanders is talking about the space she has been in since the moment she found out someone had been charged in her youngest son’s murder.
“When it happened, I didn’t know what to do, where to go,” the mother of four said.
Her son Derrell Rockette, 32, was gunned down in December of 2022. He was a father of two with another baby on the way.
“He didn’t even know that he was having another baby,” Sanders said.
Sanders told me the feeling of not knowing if she’d ever see an arrest remained a constant for her until Friday when she looked the man in the face who police say killed her son.
Detroit police took Darnell Jerome Franklin Jr.,19, into custody a week ago.
Wayne County prosecutors say Franklin shot and killed Rockette in cold blood. Franklin is now facing multiple charges including first-degree murder.
Sanders says she didn’t know if this day would ever come because there wasn’t much communication with Detroit police in the beginning.
So she along with other mothers who lost a child to gun violence formed the group known as Mothers Keeping Boots on the Ground to make sure their children’s homicide cases weren’t forgotten.
“We banned to stick together and fight,” Sanders said. “And fight for other families, so we can get justice.”
Chief Todd Bettison said Sanders helped with the case.
“She never gave up,” Bettison said. “She relentlessly continued to contact the Detroit Police Department. And she’s advocated for other mothers as well.”
“And so, she was an advocate just involved out there looking for her own tips.”
Bettison also says that the department remains committed to every victims’ case regardless of when it happened.
“We are not going to stop working these cases,” the chief said. “And so our cold case unit, I’ve actually added additional officers. We just don’t close out homicide cases.”
Sanders said she’s grateful for the work put into her sons case and she leaves this advice for other mothers still looking for justice.
“Don’t ever, ever give up,” Sanders said. “You fight for your child… Fight. Be the voice for your child.”
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