Game Report - July 7, 2026 - Tigers 6, Athletics 2

[Steve Bielawski]

> Detroit Tigers 6, Athletics 2 - final

The Tigers scored two runs in the  bottom of the first, and four more runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Tarik Skubal gave up only one run in 5 2/3 innings, and the Tigers' bullpen only gave up one run in 3 1/3 innings.  The Tigers won this game.

Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the first with a walk, and Colt Keith followed with a home run.  The Tigers scored two runs before they made an out in tis game.

Henry Bolte led off the top of the third with a home run.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth,
    Zach McKinstry walked,
    Spencer Torkelson singled,
    Ben Malgeri doubled to drive in Mr. McKinstry,
    Matt Vierling doubled to drive in Mr. Torkelson and Mr. Malgeri,
    and Kevin McGonigle singled to drive in Mr. Vierling.
Mr. Malgeri's double was actually a pop-up that fell between the second baseman and the right fielder.  If either of them had caught up to it, the inning would have been over, without the Tigers scoring a run.

In the top of the seventh, Henry Bolte was hit by a pitch, went to second base on an error by Nick Kurtz, and scored on a single by Shea Langeliers.

The Tigers have won three games in a row, and six of their last seven games.  And they won again last night.

The Tigers and Athletics will continue this series this afternoon.



> Detroit Tigers AB R H RBI HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> K. McGonigle SS-3B 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 .287 .398 .423

Walked in the first and scored.
Was safe on a fielding error by Henry Bolte in the third.
Singled to right in the fifth.
Singled up the middle in the sixth
    to drive in Mr. Vierling.

> C. Keith 3B 2 1 1 2 1 1 0 .252 .300 .393

Homered to right-centre in the first
    to drive in Mr. McGonigle.
Walked in the third.
Groundeed into a double play in the fifth.

>    H. Lee PH-2B 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .286 .393

> R. Greene LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .289 .376 .468

In the KIITI club.

> D. Dingler C 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .262 .323 .514

nothing, with two sstrikeouts.

> K. Carpenter DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .231 .305 .477

Was hit by a pitch in the fourth.
nothing else, with two strikeouts.

> Z. McKinstry 2B-SS 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 .203 .282 .297

Singled to right in the fourth.
Walked in the sixth and scored.
Singled to right in the eighth.

> S. Torkelson 1B 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .214 .313 .411

Singled up the middle in the sixth and scored.
He also struck out twice.

> J. Outman CF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .157 .232 .333

nothing.

>    B. Malgeri PH-RF 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 .313 .429 .375

Doubled to right in the sixth
    to drive in Mr. McKinstry;
    he would soon score as well.
Walked in the eighth.

> M. Vierling RF-CF 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 .203 .255 .342

Doubled to right in the sixth
    to drive in Mr. Torkelson and Mr. Malgeri;
    he would soon score as well.

> team 32 6 8 6 1 4 11

Six runs will win quite a few games.
Six runs were enough to win this game.



> 2B: Vierling (12, Lopez); Malgeri (1, Lopez)
> HR: Keith (7, 1st inning off Ginn 1 on, 0 Out)

> RBI: Vierling 2 (30), Keith 2 (21), Malgeri (4), McGonigle (32)
> 2-Out RBI: Malgeri; Vierling 2; McGonigle.

> GIDP: Keith

> Team LOB: 7
> Team RISP: 3-10 (Vierling 1-3, Outman 0-1, Greene 0-1,
>    Dingler 0-1, Torkelson 0-1, Malgeri 1-1, McGonigle 1-2)

> E: Lee (3, fielding)



> Athletics AB R H RB HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> Z. Gelof LF 5 0 1 0 0 0 4 .281 .335 .489
> N. Kurtz 1B 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 .271 .410 .505

Collared.

> S. Langeliers C 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 .264 .330 .492
> J. Heim DH 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .248 .303 .514
> J. Wilson SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .272 .304 .379

Curtailed.

> C. Thomas RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .222 .255 .389

Cornered.

>    L. Butler PH-RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .294 .302

Continued the 0-fer from the right fielder.

> J. Kuroda-Grauer 2B 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 .462 .481 .577
> M. Muncy 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .227 .303 .396

Corralled.
Five Athletics players were aboard the 0-fer Express.

> H. Bolte CF 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 .292 .373 .385
> team 34 2 7 2 1 2 12

Not enough scoring to win this game.

> 2B: Kuroda-Grauer (3, Skubal)
> HR: Bolte (3, 3rd inning off Skubal 0 on, 0 Out)

> RBI: Langeliers (45), Bolte (15)
> 2Out RBI: Langeliers.

> Team LOB: 9
> Team RISP: 1-6 (Heim 0-1, Langeliers 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Muncy 0-1, Bolte 0-1)

> CS: Kuroda-Grauer (1, 2nd base by Finnegan/Dingler)
> Picked Off: Kuroda-Grauer (1st base, Finnegan)

> DP: 1 (Kurtz-Wilson)

> E: Bolte (4, fielding)



> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Athletics (41-50, 22-22 away)         0 0 1  0 0 0  1 0 0 - 2 7 1
> Detroit Tigers  (41-50, 24-21 home)   2 0 0  0 0 4  0 0 x - 6 8 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------

That four-spot in the sixth was very handy.
                                             


> Detroit Tigers IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> T. Skubal (W, 5-4) 5.0 5 1 1 2 9 1 96-62 3.06

He got the win, but was one out shy of a quality start.

> K. Finnegan (H, 10) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 10-7 2.18

Did his job.

> D. Anderson 1.0 1 1 0 0 2 0 29-16 4.28

His defense let him down.

> J. Waguespack 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 23-20 1.54

Did his job

> team 9.0 7 2 1 2 12 1 158-105

> HBP: Heim (by Anderson); Bolte (by Anderson)

> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
>    Skubal 15/22;
>    Finnegan 3/3; Anderson 4/7; Waguespack 6/6

> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
>    Skubal-10-22-19-11;
>    Finnegan-2-1-1-3; Anderson-5-3-5-3; Waguespack-4-4-7-5

> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
>    Skubal 3-3;
>    Finnegan 2-0; Anderson 2-0; Waguespack 3-2

> Game Scores: T Skubal 60



> Athletics IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> J.T. Ginn (L, 7-5) 4.0 2 2 2 2 4 1 61-40 3.10

Not a bad start, but short.

> J. Lopez 3.0 5 4 4 1 4 0 63-39 7.04

Jennifer Lopez would have done better.

> E. Alvarado 1.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 23-15 5.33

Did his job.

> team 8.0 8 6 6 4 11 1 147-94

> HBP: Carpenter (by Ginn)

> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
> Alvarado 3/5; Lopez 11/14; Ginn 10/18

> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
> Alvarado-3-5-6-1; Lopez-11-6-13-9; Ginn-14-5-10-11

> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
> Lopez 2-2; Ginn 4-5

> Game Scores: J Ginn 52



> Venue: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
> Attendance: 28,736

> Weather: 85 degrees, clear
> Wind: 5 m.p.h., in frrom left

> Time of Game: 2:46

This game report is brought to you by the Ford Thunderbird.
    A personal luxury car.

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Tarik Skubal and Colt Keith lead the Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Athletics

By AP
Jul 7, 2026, 09:39 pm

DETROIT -- — Tarik Skubal struck out nine over five innings and Colt Keith hit a two-run homer to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Skubal (5-4) struck out the side in the first inning for the second time in his career and left after 96 pitches. The left-hander allowed five hits and walked two. His only blemish came on rookie Henry Bolte’s third homer, a leadoff shot in the third that cut it to 2-1.

Kevin McGonigle, headed to the All-Star Game as a rookie, drew an eight-pitch walk from J.T. Ginn (7-5) leading off the first and Keith hit his next pitch for his seventh homer and a lead the Tigers never relinquished. Detroit (41-50) has won three straight and six of its last seven games.

Kyle Finnegan pitched a scoreless sixth following Skubal, and Drew Anderson allowed Shea Langeliers' RBI single for an unearned run in the seventh. Jacob Waguespack closed it out with two perfect innings.

Ginn left in favor of Jacob Lopez after allowing two runs on two hits in four innings.

Detroit broke it open with a four-run sixth after Lopez retired the first two batters.

Zach McKinstry drew a walk to start the rally and Spencer Torkelson singled to put runners on the corners. McKinstry scored when Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Lawrence Butler let pinch hitter Ben Melgeri's pop-up in short right field fall between them for a double. Matt Vierling drove in two with a double and McGonigle added an RBI single for a 6-1 lead.

Lopez was charged with four runs on five hits for the Athletics, who have lost four straight and eight of nine.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch announced before the game that the team was parting ways with third base coach Joey Cora over “philosophical differences.”

Up next

Athletics LHP Jeffrey Springs (3-8, 5.79) starts Wednesday opposite Tigers RHP Troy Melton (4-1, 2.05).