Torkelson's homer Tigers' only offense in 3-1 loss to Guardians

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on May 23, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Remember at the beginning of the month when the Tigers were scoring 10 runs or more seemingly every other game?

That was fun.

The end of the month is proving to be less fertile for the offense.

A sixth-inning solo home run by Spencer Torkelson was the only thing standing between the Tigers and back-to-back shutouts, as the Guardians beat them for a second straight night at Comerica Park, 3-1 on Friday.

It’s just the second time this month that they’ve lost back-to-back games and the second time all season they’ve lost two straight at home (both to the Texas Rangers).

The Tigers were held in check for six innings by right-hander Slade Cecconi, who was making his second start of the season after returning from an oblique injury.

He stranded runners in scoring position in four of those innings, before Torkelson launched his 13th homer, a 405-footer that cleared the bullpen in left.

The Tigers were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Hunter Gaddis took over in the seventh inning and worked around a one-out double by Javier Baez and pitched a clean eighth inning.

The Guardians handed closer Emmanuel Clase a two-run lead in the ninth and there was no drama.

The Tigers (33-19) went into the game without two of their offensive leaders — Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry. Both are dealing with some soreness and were given the start off by manager AJ Hinch. Greene pinch hit in the eighth and struck out.

Another messy first inning for rookie Jackson Jobe had the Tigers playing uphill again. It also shortened his outing by an inning or two.

Steven Kwan led off the game with a double and scored on a triple to center field by Jose Ramirez. With two outs, Carlos Santana rolled a broken-bat single into left field to bring Ramirez home.

Jobe has allowed 10 runs in the first inning of his 10 starts this season, with opponents hitting .375 (15 for 40).

He allowed just one hit the rest of the way, though he had to navigate around two walks and a hit-batsman to keep the deficit at two through five innings.

Facing a lineup of eight left-handed hitters, Jobe effectively leaned on his change-up. He got seven whiffs on 11 swings at it and some soft-contact outs.

The Guardians did their damage against his upper-90s four-seamer. They put 11 fastballs in play with an average exit velocity of 91.5 mph, including Kwan’s double and Ramirez’s triple.

The Tigers bullpen kept it a one-run game through the eighth. Lefty Tyler Holton got five straight outs before giving up a single to Kwan. Righty Beau Brieske finished the seventh and left with two on and two outs in the eighth.

Righty Chase Lee, clutch, punched out Gabriel Arias to end that threat.

The Guardians tacked on the third run in the ninth. Right-fielder Kerry Carpenter misplayed a single by Bo Naylor into a triple and he scored on Kwan's third hit of the game.