Miami, FL
Detroit Tigers collapse in 11th inning in 6-4 loss to Miami
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MIAMI — The Miami Marlins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4, when Troy Johnston hit a walk-off homer – his second of the game – in the 11th inning.
The Tigers were locked in a 3-3 tie late against the Marlins at loanDepot Park in the middle contest of a three-game set on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle, who was pitching for just the second time in six days, was given the eighth inning and he shut down Miami – three up, three down – with nine pitches. That’s a good sign for the Tigers’ postseason hopes.
After the Tigers failed to score in the ninth, right-hander Will Vest was brought in. Vest had not pitched since Sunday, Sept. 7, but he came out sharp. After getting the first two batters, Victor Mesa Jr. hit a sharp liner to left field but Riley Greene tracked it down.
In the 10th, Vest returned for his second inning and it was wildly dramatic. To open the inning, Javier Sanoja popped up a bunt and Vest caught it and fired to second, doubling off Mesa, on second as the automatic runner. But any sense of relief was short-lived. After the Marlins put runners on second and third, Liam Hicks lined out to Trey Sweeney at short.
In the 11th, the Tigers took the lead when Wenceel Pérez doubled to right, knocking in Greene, the free runner, to open the inning. Soon after, Colt Keith was walked to load the bases with nobody out. Dillon Dingler struck out. After the Marlins turned to lefty Josh Simpson, he threw a wild pitch, but the ball bounced off the backstop and Spencer Torkelson, coming home from third, was tagged out at the plate. The Marlins then intentionally walked Jahmai Jones and struck out Parker Meadows to hold the Tigers to one run from a bases loaded with no outs situation.
Rafael Montero pitched the 11th, and nearly got out of a runners-on-first-and-third jam, inducing a ground ball from Heriberto Hernández to defensive replacement Javier Báez. But the Tigers couldn’t turn the double play, and the Marlins tied it up and brought Johnston back to the plate.
The Tigers (84-65) will finish this six-game, two-city road trip on Sunday, Sept. 13 (1:40 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit) with a bullpen game against the Marlins (70-79). Detroit’s magic number to clinch the American League Central remained at eight, with the Tigers’ division lead on Cleveland shrinking to seven games, with the Guardians playing the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Charlie Morton dances through trouble
Right-hander Charlie Morton got the start for the Tigers and he spent the better part of the afternoon walking through a minefield of his own making.
Miami scored first off an Agustín Ramírez double, a Dingler throwing error and an Otto Lopez single. Not that it really mattered, but he probably would have scored even without the throwing error.
Morton made the situation more dramatic when he was called for a balk – after throwing to first three times without picking off the runner – and Lopez advanced to second. But Morton got out of it when Hernández grounded out to third.
He got into trouble in the second when he walked Acosta, he advanced to second on a ground out and scored off a Javier Sanoja double. After walking Marsee, he was in serious trouble. But he got out of it by striking out Ramirez to end the inning.
He got into trouble again in the third inning after a pair of walks but got out of it when Maximo Acosta grounded out to thid as Colt Keith made a nice running throw.
Morton was done after four innings, giving up two runs. He gave up three hits and walked four but had four strikeouts.
Melton gives Tigers a chance to win it
Troy Melton, the 24-year-old rookie right hander, had another solid performance, pitching in his 13th game.
He gave up a tying homer to Johnston – who came into the game with just one in his career – in the sixth inning but Melton was otherwise solid. He went three innings and tried to sneak annother inning in by walking to the middle of the dugout, but Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked down the dugout to track him down and shake his hand, signalling the end of his outing.
Melton threw three innings, giving up a run off two hits and left the game after the seventh inning with the score tied, 3-3.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.
The Oregon Ducks come off a chaotic recruiting period in the 2027 cycle, where they hosted official visitors and added to their list of commitments. Coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff are simultaneously looking ahead to future recruiting classes.
As the 2027 cycle starts to wind down and the 2028 cycle begins to pick up, the Ducks entered the recruiting sweepstakes for four-star edge rusher Elijah Tillman.
Oregon Ducks in the Mix for Four-Star EDGE Elijah Tillman
Tillman is a 6-7, 210-pound edge rusher from Loganville, Georgia. He’s listed as a consensus four-star recruit and is ranked as high as No. 152 in the class by Rivals.
In a recent interview with Rivals’ Chad Simmons, Tillman revealed that Oregon and the Miami Hurricanes are among the schools that he wants to visit. According to 247Sports, the Ducks offered him back on April 30, 2026, while the Hurricanes extended an offer all the way on January 25, 2025.
Tillman told Rivals that the different schools in the mix are even at the moment, but that Oregon and Miami were two of the schools that he wants to go out and see.
Four-Star Elijah Tillman’s Potential Oregon Ducks Fit
Sports Spring Football | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
With Tillman’s large frame, which still has the opportunity to grow, he would provide the Ducks with size on the edge right away.
The 2027 recruiting class currently features five-star edge rusher Rashad Streets, three-star Achilles Reyna and three-star Josh Christensen at the position. The program prepares for current starters Matayo Uiagelelei and Teitum Tuioti to head to the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2026 season, leaving opportunities for the next couple of recruiting classes.
Additionally, the Ducks haven’t earned any commitments from the state of Georgia in their 2027 recruiting class. The last commit Lanning landed from Georgia was Dayton Raiola in the 2026 class, who made his decision on February 4, 2026. Making a big push for Tillman could possibly reignite the program’s recruiting in the Peach State.
Miami Hurricanes vs. Oregon Ducks Recruiting Battle
Miami is the other program that appears to be making a big push early for Tillman. Oregon fans are very familiar with former Ducks coach Mario Cristobal, who took Oregon recruiting to a different level before leading the Hurricanes to the National Championship game last season.
Cristobal and the Hurricanes have battled Lanning and the Ducks for blue-chip recruits more and more over the recent recruiting cycles. Most notably, Miami flipped four-star cornerback Ai’King Hall’s commitment from Oregon earlier in the 2027 cycle.
The two rivals also emerged as finalists for linebacker recruit Jalaythan Mayfield, who ended up choosing the Indiana Hoosiers. Oregon got the best of the Hurricanes once in the 2027 cycle when four-star offensive lineman Gus Corsair committed to the Pacific Northwest program over the Vanderbilt Commodores and Miami.
While the Hurricanes aren’t a Big Ten rival that the Ducks commonly go toe-to-toe with on the field and in the recruiting realm, Cristobal’s role in the recruiting rivalry adds a little bit more fuel to battles for recruits like Tillman.
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The Miami Dolphins will have new starters at their cornerback positions since both Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas are not back with the team. The team drafted Chris Johnson in the first round and it’s pretty likely he’ll have a large role and should claim the one starting spot. The other starting spot should be up for grabs among the rest of the group. Jason Marshall is one of those players who has a better chance of claiming that starting spot after showing some flashes his rookie season. Jeff Hafley has already said he envision Marshall playing on the outside and the second-year corner should get plenty of chances to prove himself during the preseason.
You can check out that story here, and the rest of the day’s round-up below.
Phinsider News You May Have Missed
With Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres’ contract ending in February 2027, school board members are now looking to have his replacement by August.
Dotres has served as the superintendent for the third-largest school district since 2022. The school board started the search for his replacement in April.
More than 20 people applied for the position, but now only six have secured spots as semifinalists.
Here’s a closer look at who Miami-Dade’s superintendent might be:
Jose Bueno
With roughly 33 years of experience within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Bueno currently serves as Dotres’ Chief of Staff.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bueno’s tasks include coordinating and implementing major projects “that have significant district-wide impact on the goals of the district and involve coordination of other divisions and offices.”
He started as a teacher within the country back in 1993 and is a Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University graduate.
Ernie Lozano
Lozano is currently Broward County’s Public Schools Chief Human Resources Officer.
His passion is creating a safe and secure environment for both students and staff.
“He has been recognized for his contributions to the District’s safety and security initiatives, receiving accolades for his exceptional leadership and commitment to student and staff well-being,” according to a bio on the site for the National Student Safety and Security Conference & Workshop.
Before his career in human resources, Lozano served within education as a teacher, assistant principal and more.
Sylvia Mitchell
Hope builder, executive leadership coach and seasoned superintendent are all descriptions Mitchell has on her LinkedIn.
Living in Houston, Texas, Mitchell is familiar with the Sunshine State since she was a principal at Charter Schools USA in Fort Lauderdale back in 2012.
She has also served as superintendent twice in Texas and is currently Executive Vice President, Curriculum, Design & Development for Per Scholars.
Carlos Perez
Perez is a charter school principal in West Palm Beach and the former executive director of the Education Reform Project, a nonprofit organization based in Miami Beach.
According to the nonprofit, Perez has over 25 years of experience within education, mainly in New York, but now in Florida.
Perez has also been an assistant superintendent in the past, as well as taking part as an Executive Board Member for the New York State Association of School Personnel Administrators.
Christopher Ruszkowski
Currently based in South Carolina as CEO of South Carolina’s Children’s Fund, Ruszkowski has moved all over the country, and Florida will be no exception.
According to his LinkedIn, he served as New Mexico’s Secretary of Education back in 2019. Before living in South Carolina, he was a conservator for the Texas Education Agency. A conservator oversees the state’s takeovers of large school districts and charter school networks.
Getting his master’s at Stanford, Ruszkowski was a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institute located within the university.
Rafael Villalobos
Since 2022, Villalobos has been the South Region Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Before that, he was a principal for over ten years.
The Nova Southeastern alum has been in Miami for most of his life, even graduating from South Miami Senior High School in 1990.
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