Tigers snap 8-game slide with 4-2 win over Guardians

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Sep 25, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — At least for one night, things fell back into place for the Tigers.

They flexed their latent home run power. The term “chaos,” as it’s applied to their pitching plan, had a positive connotation. And just like that, the eight-game losing streak was stopped and the month-long free fall was at least suspended.

The Tigers salvaged the finale against the Guardians with a 4-2 win at Progressive Field Thursday.

The Tigers and Guardians are tied atop the Central Division with 86-73 records, but entering the final weekend of the season, Cleveland owns the tie-breaker. The win shrinks the Tigers' magic number to clinch at least a wild-card spot to two.

Any combination of two Tigers wins or Houston Astros losses and the Tigers will be in the postseason.

Jahmai Jones got things started on the right foot, leading off the game with a 400-foot home run off Guardians’ lefty starter Parker Messick. It was Jones’ seventh homer and his third leadoff homer this month.

Two batters later, Wenceel Perez, who had been in a 3-for-38 scuffle, blasted his 13th homer.

In the second inning, Dillon Dingler doubled and scored on a two-out single by Javier Baez.

In the fourth, after the Guardians scratched a run against rookie Troy Melton, Riley Greene answered with his 36th homer – a 411-foot blast to right field.

The Tigers hadn’t scored more than two runs against the Guardians in their last five games against them.

All good things.

And Melton, making his first start since Aug. 13, came out in full attack mode, throwing a barrage of 97- and 98-mph fastballs, allowing just the one run, on a two-out double by C.J. Kayfus, in 3 2/3 innings.

He hadn’t thrown more than 46 pitches in an outing since his last start. But he was able to get through the Guardians’ order two and half times in 3 2/3 innings (49 pitches), setting up the matchup pockets manager AJ Hinch was hoping to exploit.

Lefty Brant Hurter got four outs, dispatching lefties Steven Kwan and George Valera at the top of the order.

Tommy Kahnle pitched a clean sixth inning, retiring Jose Ramirez, Kyle Manzardo and Gabriel Arias. He departed after setting down switch-hitter Angel Martinez in the seventh, passing the baton to lefty Tyler Holton.

Holton, who came in with a regular-season scoreless innings streak of 27 2/3 innings, got the final two outs in the seventh. But he gave up a leadoff single to light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges to start the eighth and left with one on and out.

Kyle Finnegan got the second out, but Ramirez rapped a two-out RBI double, making it a two-run game and ending Holton’s scoreless streak.

That left it to Will Vest to close it out. He's had some rocky moments this month, especially last week against the Guardians in Detroit when he was tagged for four runs.

No worries. Vest punched out Arias, Martinez and Bo Naylor to earn his 22nd save.

It didn't need to be that tense.

The Tigers missed a couple of chances to blow the game open. With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Messick got Spencer Torkelson to pop out and then struck out Greene, winning a eight-pitch battle.

With runners on first and third and two outs in the sixth, right-handed reliever Matt Festa struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter.

But — and it's been a long time since we could apply this Hinch maxim — never be mad after a win.