The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 10-9 victory over the Rays on Monday:
One thing I loved
Plastered all over milk cartons for the past month, someone finally found the Tigers’ offense. The Tigers exploded for 10 runs Monday, including back-to-back-to-back home runs for the first time since 2020, in the second inning.
Dillon Dingler started it with his 12th homer of the season, his sixth with two strikes.
Then it was Kerry Carpenter with his first since April 24.
Finally, it was Riley Greene with his first since April 29.
Dingler later added his 13th homer of the season, for the first multi-homer game of his career.
Just to recap, during the weekend sweep to the White Sox in Chicago, the Tigers scored five runs on 15 hits in 28 innings. In nine innings against the Rays in St. Petersburg, the Tigers scored 10 runs on a season-best 14 hits. The Tigers scored 10 runs for the first time since Apri 16 and hit five (FIVE!?!) homers in a game — Hao-Yu Lee hit the fifth of the game, right after he started a nifty double play — for the first time since last June.
And, mercifully, all that held up for a win. Barely.
One thing I didn’t
The world changes fast.
As the calendar flips from May, there’s this really ugly stat that came to my attention: At the start of the day June 1, 2025, the Tigers had the best record in Major League Baseball, while at the start of the day June 1, 2026, the Tigers were tied with the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in MLB.
The Tigers entered this week’s series against the AL-best Tampa Bay Rays having lost eight consecutive series, including the weekend sweep by the White Sox in Chicago. The stretch of misery also includes dropped series to woeful teams such as the Red Sox (sweep), Royals, Mets (sweep), Blue Jays, Orioles and Angels. Those last six teams I mentioned entered Monday a combined 50 games under .500.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Kerry Carpenter (4) — He has four hits in seven at-bats since coming off the injured list Sunday.
Riley Greene (15)
Will Vest
Player of the game
(Season total in parentheses)
Dillon Dingler (3) — He tied a career high with four hits and four RBIs; he did both in the same game April 19.
Next Tigers game
Game 62: Tigers at Rays, 6:40 Tuesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 61: 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
