Detroit, MI
Tarik Skubal, Javier Báez, Colt Keith march Detroit Tigers to 7-2 win over Minnesota Twins
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Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, one of the best pitchers in baseball, was punched in the mouth in the first inning Saturday, as Royce Lewis cranked a first-pitch slider for a two-run home run.
Skubal, though, responded like an ace.
“Giving up two in the first, I’ve done that a lot?” Skubal said. “Unfortunately, I have. In ’21, I gave up a lot of runs in the first inning, so it’s learning experiences. There’s a ton of growth to be had, even three years ago, that you can take into today’s game.”
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Skubal mowed down the Minnesota Twins throughout the rest of his seven-inning start, leading the Tigers to a 7-2 win Saturday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.
The Tigers (52-54) have won 13 of their past 19 games.
“Do you think I think about the future?” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I do in my own way, but not in the moment. In the moment, we’re trying to win the game. I love what we’re building here, but I want to stop talking about building. I want to win every game. What we’re witnessing with Tarik is just scratching the surface on what he can do.”
Skubal, the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award with a2.35 ERA through 21 starts, allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 96 pitches.
The Tigers drew 35,138 fans on Saturday night.
“What an environment,” Skubal said, when asked about crowf. “I don’t know how many people were there tonight, but it was a great environment, and it was great last night, and I look forward to playing in front of the fans like this again tomorrow — and winning a series. It was awesome.”
The Tigers also received a boost from Javier Báez, who hit a home run for in third consecutive game. He padded a one-run lead with a two-run homer — his third homer in a stretch of 11 plate appearances — in the seventh inning, turning on a middle-in fastball from right-handed reliever Brock Stewart.
Báez had one homer in his first 229 plate appearances.
“I love it,” Skubal said. “I love Javy, everything about him. He plays the game hard. I’ve always admired that about him. Ground ball, he’s running it 90 feet pretty hard no matter how he feels. I got a ton of respect for that player.”
The homer from Báez extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-2. Still in the seventh, the Twins replaced Stewart with left-handed reliever Steven Okert for a left-on-left matchup with rookie Colt Keith.
Keith greeted Okert by unloading on an inside sinker for a two-run home run to right field. He has 11 homers in 95 games, with his latest homer putting the Tigers ahead, 7-2.
It was Keith’s first homer against a left-handed pitcher in his MLB career.
“It’s been tough because I never really face them as much,” Keith said. “It’s been inconsistent. But I feel like, when I’m feeling good, I’m able to hit anybody. Hopefully, I just keep getting at-bats against them, and I can build on that as we go.”
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Tarik Skubal stars
In the first inning, Skubal allowed a leadoff single to Manuel Margot on his second pitch of the game.
Then, Lewis crushed Skubal’s slider that hung around at the bottom of the strike zone for a two-run home run to left-center field with one out in the first inning.
Just like that, the Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead.
“A bloop and a blast,” Skubal said. “That happens in this game. My command, my execution, was really bad for probably the first two or three innings, too. Just continuing to attack guys, even though you know it’s not going exactly the way you want to, and then you’ll just kind of find it, and that’s what happened.”
Skubal allowed three of five hits in the first inning. After the first, the only other hits came from Jose Miranda in the fourth inning and Carlos Santana in the sixth inning.
In the fourth, Skubal retired the next three batters to strand Miranda: Santana (strikeout), Willi Castro (strikeout) and Ryan Jeffers (flyout). In the sixth, Skubal struck out Miranda to open the inning before avoiding trouble after Santana’s one-out single by striking out Castro and getting Jefers to line out.
Skubal issued both walks with one out in the fifth inning, but Byron Buxton struck out and Lewis flew out to strand the runners. He struck out Buxton with a mix of fastballs and changeups.
“That happens in this sport,” Skubal said. “Just don’t let it impact the next pitch, and I felt like I did a good job of that.”
He generated 13 whiffs on 52 swings — a 25% whiff rate — with three fastballs, two sinkers and eight changeups. The Twins entered Saturday with the best offense in baseball against left-handed pitchers, posting a .784 OPS.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal throws vs Jahmai Jones in simulated game
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal faces Jahmai Jones in a simulated game Monday, June 1, 2026, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Almost every Detroit Tigers hitter looks improved through three games in June, but Dillon Dinger continues to go above and beyond. He put the Tigers on his back for a sweep of one of MLB’s best teams.
The Tigers scored in each of the first four innings en route to a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, June 3, in the finale of the three-game series at Tropicana Field, sweeping the series for a three-game winning streak.
It’s the first sweep for the Tigers since April 14-16.
Dingler hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning.
Facing the Rays, Dingler hit .462 (6-for-13) with three home runs and nine RBIs across 14 plate appearances. The 27-year-old drove in four runs apiece in Monday’s opener and Wednesday’s finale.
He is hitting .241 with 14 homers and an .830 OPS in 56 games.
The Tigers improved to 25-38, while the Rays, who entered Wednesday with the best record in the American League, dropped to 36-23. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers are 10½ games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
More importantly, the Tigers experienced a run-scoring breakthrough at Tropicana Field.
The offense scored 81 runs (with 18 home runs) through 28 games in May, only to score 25 runs (with 10 home runs) in the first three games in June.
On the mound
Right-hander Troy Melton struggled early on.
But he dominated throughout the middle and late innings.
The 25-year-old didn’t throw a first-pitch strike to the first eight batters he faced, and the Rays took advantage of his command issues by scoring one run apiece in a 19-pitch first inning and a 17-pitch second inning.
The result of those runs: The Rays tied the game, 1-1, on Yandy Díaz’s RBI single in the first and tied the game again, 2-2, on Cedric Mullins’ solo home run in the second.
Melton suddenly threw a first-pitch strike for the first time to Victor Mesa Jr., immediately following Mullins’s homer and Nick Fortes’ single.
He faced the minimum 21 batters after Fortes’ single, needing 14 pitches in the third inning, 10 in the fourth, eight in the fifth, six in the sixth and eight in the seventh and 12 in the eighth.
His only blemish during that stretch came on a leadoff walk to Jonathan Aranda in the third inning, losing a nine-pitch battle. He bounced back by erasing Aranda on the bases with a double play, then he struck out Richie Palacios.
Melton owns a 1.74 ERA in three starts since returning May 24 from the injured list after suffering right elbow inflammation in spring training.
At the plate
The story continues to be the offense.
It’s a small sample size, but the Tigers keep hitting in June.
The Tigers grabbed the lead in the first inning for the fourth game in a row, courtesy of Gleyber Torres’ leadoff double and Dingler’s RBI single.
Torres attacked a first-pitch cutter from right-hander Nick Martinez in his second game since returning from the injured list, recovering from a left oblique strain.
Martinez allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk with one strikeout across four innings, throwing 58 pitches. He hadn’t allowed more than two runs in his first 11 starts, entering Wednesday with a 1.62 ERA.
He now has a 2.29 ERA after his 12th start.
After taking a 1-0 lead, the Tigers made it 2-1 in the second on Jake Rogers’ home run and 3-2 in the third on Spencer Torkelson’s sacrifice fly.
The big swing occurred in the fourth inning.
Singles from Matt Vierling and Torres put two runners on for Dingler with two outs, and, with two strikes, he pulled Martinez’s middle-away cutter for a three-run home run.
It put the Tigers ahead, 6-2.
A sacrifice fly from Kerry Carpenter extended the Tigers’ lead to 7-2 in the ninth inning.
Next up: Comerica Park
The six-game road trip is in the books.
The Tigers have an off day Thursday – with another off day approaching on Monday – as they return home to Comerica Park for a three-game series against the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners, beginning Friday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet).
The probable pitchers for the series: left-hander Framber Valdez on Friday, right-hander Keider Montero on Saturday and right-hander Jack Flaherty on Sunday.
For the Mariners, All-Star right-hander Bryan Woo is scheduled to start Friday’s opener.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”
It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.
And now there’s this.
In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.
Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.
Anderson and Parker both are charged with conspiracy and federal program theft/bribery and face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. They were released on bond following their initial appearances in U.S. District Court. Their court-appointed lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, Anderson, who was hired by the city in 2022, was in charge of overseeing People Mover operations until he was fired in April for conduct unrelated to the pending criminal case. Parker owns a business called Total Care Restoration (TCR), which performs restoration work on homes damaged by fire, water, windstorms, or other elements.
According to the government, Parker was billing the DTC for information technology services, even though his company has no experience in that field, nor has it ever submitted a bid proposal to the city for such work, or signed any contract with the DTC.
Still, the government alleges, between 2023-25, the DTC paid nearly $305,000 to TCR for 23 invoices it had submitted, 22 of those invoices charged for IT services.
“Anderson approved the invoices and Parker deposited the checks into TCR’s bank account. TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments before Anderson was hired as Procurement Director. Likewise, TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments after Anderson was fired as Procurement Director,” the complaint states.
According to the government, Anderson did actually procure and manage IT contracts with a number of companies while he worked for the DTC. But TCR was billing the city for work that those companies had been contracted to do.
“At least six TCR invoices listed work that was actually contracted to (another company),” an FBI agent wrote in his affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.
Also noteworthy, the FBI agent writes: “Most of TCR’s invoices contained a charge for debris removal. In my experience, debris removal is a common line item for restoration projects but not for IT work.”
According to the complaint, the FBI figured out that Parker was funneling money to Anderson by reviewing their bank records, and noticing that their deposits and withdrawals coincided. For example, on Aug. 16, 2024, Parker deposited a DTC check for $23,934 and withdrew $18,000 cash. That same day and over the next several days, Anderson made cash deposits into his account for $1,500, $1,300, $1,000, $700 and $1,850.
“There is probable cause to believe that Parker paid Anderson a portion of the money from the TCR invoices,” the FBI agent writes.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
Javier Báez hits home run in 2026 spring training with Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez talks to reporters during spring training February 27, 2026, at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Detroit Tigers shut down two of their shortstops on the injured list.
The biggest name?
Javier Báez.
The 33-year-old has been shut down from baseball activities after meeting with a specialist Monday, June 1, about the lack of progress in recovery from a right high ankle sprain, which he suffered April 28. (The Tigers also shut down Trey Sweeney, who has been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since spring training and needs further medical evaluation.)
“We’re still dissecting all the diagnoses and what’s going on with him,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Báez before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now, rest is still part of the equation.”
The Tigers tried to start Báez’s return-to-play progression with running, hitting and fielding drills.
He still felt symptoms of the high ankle sprain.
“I’m not a doctor,” Hinch said, “but I understand it watching Javy go through a very slow process of the swelling and the bleeding and all the things that go on inside that type of sprain.”
How long until Báez returns to baseball activities?
The timeline is unknown.
He isn’t expected to need surgery, which means he should return at some point after the All-Star break in 2026.
“From what I was told, we’re on the right path and everything is going well,” Hinch said. “These are just really tricky. The path that we’re on, we’re just going to go slow. Baseball activity is going to slow down because we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the symptoms.”
Before the injury, Báez played in 24 games for the Tigers, hitting .256 with two home runs, two walks and 16 strikeouts. The injury occurred while running to first base against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, as he tried to avoid a tag with an awkward slide.
The 13-year MLB veteran’s contract with the Tigers runs until November 2027. He is in the penultimate season of a six-year, $140 million contract from December 2021.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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