DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers scored three runs in the first inning, then didn’t cross the plate again until it was too late, falling 7-5 to the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings Saturday night at Comerica Park.
The Tigers (33-20) have lost three in a row for the first time since the opening series at Los Angeles against the Dodgers (March 27-29) and will try to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Guardians (29-22) in Sunday’s finale.
“We did a really good job of bringing a ton of energy early, and then everything kind of went quiet,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “We didn’t do much the rest of the game.”
The Tigers jumped on Guardians starter Luis Ortiz early. Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith doubled, Ortiz issued a pair of walks, and Matt Vierling notched his first hit of 2025 with a two-run single to cap the first.
Guardians catcher Bo Naylor answered with a solo homer in the third off Tigers starter Casey Mize. Later in the inning, José Ramírez extended his hitting streak to 17 games with an RBI single to trim the Tigers’ lead to one.
Despite three more walks from Ortiz over the next four innings, the Tigers couldn’t add to their lead.
Mize, making his first start after a 15-day stint on the injured list, only threw 77 pitches over five innings, but his early exit allowed Hinch to bring in lefty Brant Hurter to navigate Cleveland’s left-handed bats across the next two frames.
“That was a pretty gutsy performance by Casey,” Hinch said. “He’s been getting over the flu in the middle of all this. His temperament was very methodical, very even-keeled the entire night. He conserved a lot of energy. I thought he pitched really well, given that he’s coming off the IL. I think he hit his fatigue button a little sooner than normal, which is understandable.”
The Guardians tied the game in the eighth when — who else? — Ramírez singled and scored. Reliever Will Vest entered with two outs and the bases loaded and induced a groundout from pinch-hitter Nolan Jones to end the threat.
Vest returned to deliver a 1-2-3 ninth.
The Tigers’ offense, however, stalled completely in the late innings. Detroit went hitless in the sixth through ninth innings against relievers Matt Festa, Joey Cantillo, Cade Smith and Tim Herrin.
Cleveland broke the tie in the 10th. Kyle Manzardo and Ángel Martínez each ripped RBI doubles as part of a four-run outburst against Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee.
The Tigers made things interesting in the bottom of the 10th after Gleyber Torres’ two-run double brought the tying run to the plate against Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.
But Clase got Colt Keith to pop out and Riley Greene to ground out to end the game.
Torres reached base in all five plate appearances on Saturday. He had three walks, a single and the final double.
Up next: The Tigers and Guardians wrap up their four-game series on Sunday at 11:35 a.m.
Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.87 ERA) will face Guardians lefty Logan Allen (2-2, 3.86).
Skubal has 79 strikeouts and seven walks through 10 starts (59 2/3 innings) in 2025. He’s facing the Guardians for the first time since Game 5 of the American League Division Series last October.
Allen was drafted in the second round in 2020 and had a strong rookie campaign in 2023. He was vexed by the long ball in 2024 and posted a 5.73 ERA over 97 1/3 innings.
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