McKinstry walks off third at the end of the top of the ninth inning
When the 2025 Detroit Tigers season started, The Dodgers were owning them. Then we went to opening day and this was the story…
The Detroit Tigers have had an up and down 2025 season so far. With a 2 – 4 record to that the year after series in Seattle and Los Angeles. The Tigers have had tremendous first Inning succession only for late game failures.
The Detroit Tigers ended up winning 7 to 4,there were no dramatic comebacks as Kerry Carpenter homered in the first.
Fast forward to September 23rd 2025 at 9pm, and the story has started to look more like the team that started the season 0-3. Not the blazing hot Detroit Tigers team of the entire 2025 season. With the season on the line a freak accident occurred and Tarik Skubal struck David Fry in the face with a fast ball. Then proceeded to almost vomit and also lost his entire mental composure.
Once again The 2025 Detroit Tigers find themselves not playing their best baseball during important situations. This Cleveland series is the most important series of the year, a one game Detroit Tigers lead over the Cleveland Guardians is on the line. Fans have started to drop off of the bandwagon as it rolls towards the cliff and falls to destruction.
How Did We As Detroit Tigers Fans Get Here?
The Detroit Tigers started to implode as injuries piled up, Reese Olson left for the year and they were unable to replace him properly.
Detroit Tigers 2025 Magic Numbers
The Tigers’ magic number to win the American League Central is at 6 after Detroit’s 6-2 loss to the Braves on Sunday, and the Cleveland Guardians’ 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers’ lead remains one game in the Central Division. The solo lead the tigers had all year long has one loss at a time been erased.
Tigers are currently about to lose to the Cleveland Guardians 5 to 2.
The Tigers (85-72) have lost seven straight and 10 of their last 11, dropping behind Cleveland (85-72) in the AL Central by virtue of losing both the season series and the tiebreaker. At this point, winning the division is less critical than simply hanging on in the playoff race. Detroit holds the sixth and final seed by one game over the Houston Astros (84-73).
Flaherty admits that he can get amped up on big moments on the mound, and he no longer tries to run from it.
“I’ve learned to embrace it, not try to breathe it out or anything, not try to slow down, but actually more so use it,” he said. “There’s times for taking a deep breath and collecting yourself. But some guys need to slow everything down. Other guys need to embrace it. I feel that I tend to be more that way.”
Flaherty said he doesn’t worry about the increasing familiarity between the Tigers and Guardians. They know him, and he knows their lineup.
“I’m going to go out and give everything I have, like I do in every start,” he said. “That part of it doesn’t change. No part of the preparation changes, or anything that goes on between the lines. It’s just about going out and competing and giving everything you got.”
Tarik Skubal Makes Brutal MLB History in Tigers Back-Breaking Loss to Guardians
In 2024, the Detroit Tigers went on an unprecedented run in the second half to earn a playoff spot for the first time in nine years. This season, they are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Last year, they were sellers ahead of the MLB trade deadline. Several veterans were moved, but the team jelled and went on a crazy run. In 2025, the team was a buyer, but their returns were underwhelming in the eyes of many.
It turns out the naysayers were right. Not enough was done ahead of the deadline, which has contributed to the team’s fall from grace. For as well as they played in 2024, they are playing that poorly in 2025.
Their lead in the American League Central has evaporated, overtaken by the Cleveland Guardians. The worst part is not even their superstar ace could end their slide.
Tarik Skubal started the first game of the series on Tuesday. It was an attempt for the Tigers to not only get on track, but ensure their ace would be available to start in the season finale on Sunday if need be.
Consistently, he has stepped up and gotten the job done when Detroit needed it most. He was well on his way to doing that again on Tuesday. The Tigers were up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before things unraveled when some ugly MLB history was made.
As shared by OptaSTATS, Skubal is the first Cy Young Award winner who had an error, wild pitch and balk all in the same inning. It could not have come at a worse time. The Guardians scored three runs in that inning to take a lead they would not relinquish.
There wasn’t a single hard-hit ball in the inning that gave Cleveland the lead. It was a multitude of mistakes and mis-hit balls that allowed the Guardians to take the lead and win this game to put themselves into first place in the AL Central.
That unwanted history that Skubal is now part of could very well be the final nail in the coffin for Detroit. They will now be relying on pitchers who have consistently underwhelmed in recent weeks, which is a major reason why they are in this situation.
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