SAN FRANCISCO – The Tigers will look a mite different Tuesday when they return to Comerica Park for the first time since July 29. When they departed for their only three-city trip of 2026, Tarik Skubal was still on the team, Jackson Jobe had another Minor League rehab start on tap and center fielder Max Clark just heard the news he would be in The Show two days later.
One thing has not changed. The Tigers remain in the hunt in the tightly bunched American League Central and Wild Card races. They bettered their positions in both with a 7-2 trip to the West Coast that ended with Sunday’s 3-1, 10-inning victory against the Giants.
The Tigers started the trip six games behind the first-place White Sox in the Central. The win pushed them within 3 1/2 games of Chicago despite still being two games below .500.
The Tigers prospered in Seattle, West Sacramento and San Francisco on the strength of their pitching, which allowed a total of 17 runs over the nine games and threw four shutouts. That has to be considered a statement performance coming after president of baseball operations Scott Harris traded two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the Deadline.
“There’s been a lot of noise around us and we keep stacking series wins,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I obviously love the mindset of our team.”
Said center fielder Zach McKinstry, who made a huge contribution Sunday with his arm, “It’s a credit to our pitching staff. We have a few shutouts on our side and it’s been awesome to get to play defense behind these guys and watch what they’ve been doing. It’s been great to see with the loss of two of our best pitchers.”
Sunday’s road-trip finale featured two excellent starters, Logan Webb and Troy Melton, providing “as good as advertised” performances. The Giants ace held the Tigers to one run over eight innings while Melton, as hot as any pitcher in the Majors besides the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, allowed an unearned run over six-plus innings.
The Tigers bullpen contributed four shutout innings against the Giants’ injury- and trade-depleted lineup. Kenley Jansen and Tyler Holton struck out the side in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively.
But lefty Drew Sommers threw the pitch of the game in the eighth, getting Rafael Devers to ground into a double play with the bases loaded to send the game into the ninth still tied.
The Giants might have been leading by then if not for McKinstry’s no-hop throw home from medium-deep center field that beat Willy Adames for another inning-ending double play in the fourth. Adames was trying to tag and score on a Drew Gilbert fly ball.
McKinstry knew it was a good throw because Melton was raising his fist before the ball even reached catcher Eduardo Valencia.
Hao-Yu Lee, pinch-hitting against left-hander Sam Hentges, broke the tie in the 10th when he punched a single over first base to score automatic runner Riley Greene. Hinch credited Lee for going first-to-third on Spencer Torkelson’s single, allowing Lee to score the insurance run on an infield out.
During the trip, the Tigers feasted on three losing teams. They face a stiffer challenge at home when they host division rivals Cleveland and Chicago, giving them a direct chance to gain ground on the first-place White Sox in the Central race and create distance on the Guardians for the Wild Card.
McKinstry said the 7-2 trip was a clear confidence boost heading into this meaningful week.
“The way that we’re playing, the at-bats we’re having, the way these guys are throwing the ball right now, I think we could play with anybody.”
