The Tigers dropped their series opener against the Orioles 8-5 last night, and honestly, Keider Montero’s start was flat-out rough. After losing their last two games to the Royals over the weekend, the Tigers desperately needed a win. Instead, we got a classic Tigers special against a sub-.500 team, the kind of matchup this squad just can’t seem to figure out all season.
Another Early Hole We Couldn’t Climb Out Of
Man, the O’s got on the board quick in the first. Pete Alonso banged a double, Gunnar Henderson singled, and then Taylor Ward’s force out brought Alonso home. Just like that, 1-0 Orioles. What did the Tigers do? Kevin McGonigle singled, Colt Keith singled later, but then two outs followed, leaving those baserunners stranded. Scoreless first for us. The second inning was just as bad. Jackson Holliday hit a double, then Coby Mayo reached on a fielding error by Keith. That bumped Holliday to third, making it easy for a Jeremiah Jackson groundout to score him. Then Dylan Beavers singled, scoring Mayo. Alonso singled too, but thankfully no more runs that inning. We were down 3-0 and it felt like a mountain already.
We finally got on the board in the bottom of the second. Zach McKinstry ripped a triple, and Hao-Yu Lee’s sac fly brought him in. Good to see a run, but two more outs followed. Still, 3-1, a little hope, right? Nope. Third inning, Taylor Ward walked, then was erased on a force out. Holliday singled, moving Leody Taveras to third. And then Mayo singled, bringing in *another* run for the O’s. Jackson got hit by a pitch, but Chadwick Tromp hit into a double play to finally end the inning. McGonigle singled again for us, but a lineout and a Keith double play killed our momentum quick. Montero *did* give us a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, which was a huge relief, but the damage was done.
The Rally That Didn’t Last and Montero’s Rough Exit
The fourth inning actually felt like a comeback was brewing! Riley Greene started us off with a leadoff double, Spencer Torkelson singled, getting Greene to third. A wild pitch let Torkelson advance to second, then McKinstry walked to load the bases. Lee came through again with a single, scoring Greene. With one out, Matt Vierling hit a sac fly, scoring Torkelson. We cut it to a one-run game at 4-3! We were right there! But then the fifth inning happened. Taveras hit a one-out solo home run. Holliday singled, and that was it for Montero. He was pulled after 4.1 innings. Brenan Hanifee came in to replace him, and what happened next? Coby Mayo homered because, of course, the baseball gods want to make this last week before the trade deadline as painful as possible. Montero’s final line? A brutal 4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR on 80 pitches. Usually he’s reliable, but this was an unusually rough outing, pretty bad all around.
This series against the Orioles is far from over, but after losing to the Royals and now dropping the opener to a struggling team, the Tigers really need to figure it out fast. They need to turn this around, starting with the next game.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply