The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to the Guardians on Tuesday:
One thing I loved
Some guys watch “Rocky” to pump themselves up.
Well, maybe Spencer Torkelson decided to give “Bring It On” a look.
Torkelson decided to be, be aggressive his first time up against the Guardians on Tuesday, teeing off on a first-pitch fastball from Parker Messick for a two-run home run. Torkelson has battled a case of the passives in 2026. Coming into Tuesday’s game, Torkelson had swung at the first pitch just 41 times; he’d taken the first pitch 144 times. That pitch from Messick was just the 10th time he’s put a first pitch in play, and his two hits are home runs.
Torkelson’s 380-foot shot to left, on a 92-mph fastball off the inside corner, was his seventh homer of the season, but his first since May 3. His previous six homers came in an 11-game span from April 22-May 3. In the 11 games since that power surgery, entering Tuesday, Torkelson had hit just .109 with an OPS of .381.
Here’s one more interesting stat, courtesy of the Detroit SportsNet research team on the Tuesday broadcast: That was the first time Torkelson has homered on a pitch that wasn’t a strike since Aug. 15, 2023. Swinging at strikes is fine, but when you’re drafted 1-1 because of your power, you can’t just hit mistakes and eat on middle-middle cookies. You can’t be perpetually passive. Good to see Torkelson, for once, be, be aggressive.
(A second thing I loved — a rarity these days with the Tigers, as I have been struggling to find just one thing — was the “Tarps Off” movement, which made its way to Comerica Park on Tuesday night.)
One thing I didn’t
Steven Kwan has long been a spark plug for the Guardians’ offense, but he’s having his worst season in the majors. He’s barely a positive-WAR player in 2026. It’s been such a struggle, he recently got demoted down in the lineup.
Nothing a trip to Detroit can’t fix.
Through his first seven plate appearances in this series against the Tigers, Kwan reached base five times, with four walks and a double — the double leading off the seventh Tuesday, and leading to the go-ahead (winning) run as the Tigers fell nine games below .500 (20-29) for the first time since July 4, 2024. Earlier in the Tuesday’s game, Kwan had a sacrifice fly to give the Guardians the early lead. (Interestingly, the sac fly and double were on first pitches, just the 19th and 20th times he’s swung at the first pitch this season.)
The two-time Gold Glove winner also made a web gem in left field, ending the bottom of the sixth inning with a silky-smooth sliding catch on a lofted foul fly ball off the bat of Wenceel Perez.
The guy clearly loves seeing the Tigers across the diamond. The feeling most assuredly is not mutual.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Spencer Torkelson (6)
Hao-Yu Lee (5)
Keider Montero (1)
Player of the game
(Season total in parentheses)
Riley Greene (4) — He reached base safely in his first eight plate appearances of the series.
Tigers’ ABS tracker
Next Tigers game
Game 50: Guardians at Tigers, 6:40 Wednesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 49: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
