Detroit, MI
Tigers cough up lead in ninth, fall to Royals in series finale
Detroit — In baseball, victory can always be given or taken away with one swing. During a season, a team can go through being on both sides of this situation multiple times.
For the Tigers, they found themselves on both sides within 24 hours. After snatching victory Saturday night with a walk-off hit, they watched as one swing turned the tides against them.
The Tigers allowed a two-out three-run homer in the top of the ninth, leaving Comerica Park on Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Royals in their last game before a six-game road trip.
BOX SCORE: Royals 3, Tigers 2
MLB STANDINGS
It was MJ Melendez who left a hero for Kansas City, as his 362-foot home run to right field off reliever Shelby Miller gave the Royals the lead. Now the Tigers (53-60) leave home going 2-7 on the homestand, heading out to Seattle on Tuesday.
“We got to get on the plane, we’re going to head as far as you can go, get away and go to Seattle and we have a tough matchup there with elite pitching after the off-day,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said.
Miller was kept in the game even as Jason Foley was warming up in the bullpen, but Hinch said he wanted Miller to go through one more batter before bringing in Foley because he liked the matchup Miller had against the lefty Melendez. But the strategy doesn’t always goes as planned.
“Today’s emotion is obviously disappointment because if he pops that ball up, if he rolls over to first, if he swings and misses and the at-bat continues and we get him out,” Hinch said, “this is a completely different outcome, we’re getting on the plane with completely different happiness. It’s part of the game.”
Today wasn’t just about how the game ended for the Tigers. It was the major-league debut for Brant Hurter, who pitched three shutout innings with three strikeouts while allowing only two hits. Hurter pitched the longest out of any reliever Sunday, as the Tigers went to the bullpen, giving their starters an extra day of rest before the long road trip.
Hurter, combined with starter Alex Faedo and relievers Brenan Hanifee and Will Vest, pitched eight innings of shutout baseball against the Royals, allowing five hits with eight total strikeouts.
The final frame wasn’t the only opportunity for Kansas City (63-50), as it had a chance in the top of the sixth with two outs as Hunter Renfroe and Vinnie Pasquantino sat on first and second, respectively. But Hurter kept his cool, and left Paul DeJong striking out in just three pitches to keep the Royals scoreless.
Hurter’s fellow rookie teammates, such as Dillon Dingler and Justyn-Henry Malloy, knew what this moment meant for him.
“Brant was great. He was controlling the zone really well with pretty much every shape that he had, so I was super happy for him,” said Dingler, his catcher. “He had some great innings out of the ‘pen, and I know he’s probably floating right now, so I’m really looking forward to what he can do moving forward.”
Hurter and Henry-Malloy were teammates at Georgia Tech, so the young outfielder had more to say about his former and now current teammate, with both of them making the big leagues within two months of each other.
“I’m so happy that he’s here; he’s worked so hard and overcoming the injuries that he’s had in college, and for him to just be the same bulldog that I got to see in the ACC,” Henry-Malloy said. “It’s a true testament to him and him just being a bulldog, taking the ball and doing what he’s loved to do his entire life, and just doing what he’s always been good at.”
“I thought he handled the emotions of today extremely well; there’s only one first day and making him wait was probably emotional for him, but the minute he started to warm up, I heard his family yelling behind home plate,” Hinch said. “All that is really awesome, the loss is gonna overshadow the joy that kid should feel about being a big leaguer.”
Although the score doesn’t show it, this ended up being a difficult start for Royals pitcher Michael Wacha, who gave up seven hits and two earned runs in six innings of work. More damage could’ve been done from the Tiger bats, like when the bases were loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Zack McKinstry grounded out and couldn’t extend the lead.
“It shouldn’t have been 2-0; we had opportunities,” Hinch said. “Whether the two-out hit, you can never bank on, but we had ’em with the bases loaded and couldn’t quite find that outfield grass, and the first-and-third double plays. (Wacha) came up with big pitches, and it looked like he was right on the edge both in the strike zone but just in the game of it turning our way and us separating a little bit.”
“It’s going to happen against us, and it’s going to happen for us,” Henry-Malloy said about losing the close game. “Just taking it with a grain of salt, going into the next day and just being positive and coming back in and trying to win another ball game the next day.”
Kameron Goodwill is a freelance writer.
Detroit, MI
Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans
Treatment will delay the Royal Oak-born actor’s plans to tour his new film ‘Ernie & Emma’ this summer.
Royal Oak-born movie star and cult hero Bruce Campbell announced on social media on Monday that he has been diagnosed cancer — a type that is “treatable” but not “curable,” he said.
“I apologize if that’s a shock — it was to me too,” the “Evil Dead” star, 67, wrote in a message posted to Instagram.
He went on to say “I’m not gonna go into any more detail,” and he didn’t. He said the public announcement had to do with scaling back appearances on his schedule, including tour dates behind his latest film, “Ernie & Emma.”
Campbell planned to show the movie June 5 at the Redford Theatre; as of Monday night, that date is still on the Redford schedule, but Campbell wrote in his note he plans to get “as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie ‘Ernie & Emma’ this fall.”
The movie is written, directed by and stars Campbell as a man who goes on a journey following the death of his wife. Campbell produced the movie alongside his wife, Ida Gearon, and filmed it in Oregon, where he now lives.
Campbell told The News in January he dedicated “Ernie & Emma” to his childhood moviemaking pals, including Scott Spiegel, who died of a heart attack in September 2025.
“It’s a callback to the carefree days of Super 8, where we could do whatever the f–k we wanted to do,” Campbell said of “Ernie & Emma.” “So I thought, ‘All the boys are responsible for this,’ so they’re all in there.”
Campbell got his start making movies around Metro Detroit with his childhood pal, Sam Raimi. Campbell starred in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy and has since appeared in most of Raimi’s films; Campbell makes a brief appearance in a photograph in the background of an early scene in Raimi’s latest, “Send Help.”
He’s also an author; Campbell’s autobiography “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor” was published in 2001.
In his post on social media, Campbell thanked fans and said he was not out to elicit sympathy.
“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around for a while,” he wrote.
agraham@detroitnews.com
Detroit, MI
Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:
“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.
Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.
“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.
Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.
“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.
The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.
“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.
The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated.
Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.
“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.
“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.
Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.
In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.
Detroit, MI
Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit
The impact and history of autos in Detroit, The Motor City
Here are some facts about Detroit’s auto industry.
Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.
“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”
Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.
And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”
Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”
From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.
Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.
The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.
Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
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