It’s getting rough out there, folks. The Detroit Tigers just added another frustrating game to their mountain of one-run losses this season, falling 3-2 to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Comerica Park. Despite a killer multi-RBI performance from shortstop Kevin McGonigle, the bats went silent around him, and the bullpen couldn’t hold onto a late lead.
McGonigle Showed Up, No One Else Did
Seriously, what else does Kevin McGonigle have to do? The man was on fire, absolutely scorching the ball all night. He blasted an opposite-field home run in the fifth inning, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead, their first of the game! Then, in the eighth inning, he nearly tied the whole thing up at 3-3 with another long shot that just, *just* fell a few feet short of the right-field stands. McGonigle finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, marking his 36th multi-hit game this season, trailing only Riley Greene’s 37 for the team lead. But here’s the kicker: he was the *only* Tiger to record an RBI all night. The rest of the Detroit lineup just went cold, man. You can’t win when one guy is doing all the heavy lifting. We saw back-to-back singles to start the first inning from McGonigle and Gleyber Torres, but then a Colt Keith line drive turned into a double play and killed all that momentum right away. Brutal.
Giving Up the Lead Right After Getting It? Oof.
Drew Anderson was on the mound for the Tigers, and listen, he battled. He got through a 28-pitch first inning, bases loaded, and only gave up one run on a sacrifice fly. He even faced the minimum from innings two through five, thanks to some defensive help like Brett Callahan throwing out a runner at third. But then, after McGonigle finally gave him a lead in the fifth? It vanished like a Seattle summer day in October. Twins second baseman Kody Clemens absolutely crushed a two-run home run in the sixth, putting Minnesota up 3-2 and ending Anderson’s night. That’s a gut punch. Anderson ended up allowing three runs on four hits while striking out four and walking three in 5⅓ innings. Beau Brieske came in to get the final two outs in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh. Brant Hurter even made his first appearance since May 22, getting three outs on nine pitches in the eighth, including a sweet diving catch from Ben Malgeri. But by then, the damage was done.
This team is now 66-79 with just 17 regular season games left. Another one-run loss just piles onto the season’s narrative. They need to figure out how to close out games, or at least how to get more than one guy driving in runs, if they want to finish this season strong. Let’s see if they can turn this thing around and avoid more of these heartbreaking finishes.
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.
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