Detroit — The Tigers’ 2026 home opener at Comerica Park checked all the boxes Friday.
Weather, check: Clear, sunny, 70 degrees at first pitch.
Atmosphere, check: Electric. Festive. Sellout crowd of 45,008, the largest for a home opening since 2017.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 4, Cardinals 0
Fans gave new lefty Framber Valdez a big ovation on his way to his pre-game warmups, on his way back from his warmups and when he was announced before the game.
The loudest cheers came when Tarik Skubal and Justin Verlander were announced back-to-back. Skubal’s ovation was a mixture of cheers and “Skuuubs,” Verlander’s was a full cascade of hearty cheers.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle drew an enthusiastic roar, as well.
The most precious moment was the ceremonial first pitch. Brandon Inge threw it, Verlander caught it. It was like 2011 all over again.
Positive outcome, double-check.
The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak, riding six shutout innings from Valdez and a mammoth two-run homer by Dillon Dinger to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“That was pretty awesome,” manager AJ Hinch said. “There is such a good feel in this ballpark when our fans are into it. I’m glad a lot of new guys got to feel it. And we came out with a good game. Just proud of our guys, especially after a long trip including the spring. Feeling the vibe in the city and being able to produce a good game is pretty cool.”
Valdez, expertly distributing sinkers, curveballs and changeups to a right-handed heavy lineup, allowed only three singles with five strikeouts and nine ground-ball outs.
“I felt like that was the best opener I’ve ever had,” he said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “This is my first time that I signed with a team as a free agent, my first big contract (three years, $115 million) and the love (the fans) gave me. I was able to perform well for my teammates and this city. It feels great.”
He got into trouble one time and it was by his own doing. He gave up a leadoff single to Alec Burleson and after striking out the next two hitters, got Yohel Pozo to hit a hard ground ball to Spencer Torkelson at first.
Valdez hustled over but muffed the throw from Torkelson at first base. The ball appeared to hit the fingers of his pitching hand before it got to the back of his glove.
“It was light contact,” he said. “I just felt something (numbness) for like 10 pitches and it went way.”
After Tigers trainer Ryne Eubanks came out to examine Valdez, he stayed in the game, though he walked the next hitter, Thomas Saggese, to load the bases.
No sweat. He got Jose Fermin to fly out softly to left field and breezed through his final two innings.
“He did a tremendous job to introduce himself to Detroit,” Hinch said. “There is a lot of trust with him. We know the ball is going to be around the strike zone and (the Cardinals) are going to come up swinging. … Just the quality of his stuff, he’s hard to hit.
“I’ve seen him on the biggest stage and he never backs down from the competition. I value that a lot in deciding how long to let him go and how much to push him because usually he’s just a ground ball away from escaping just about anything.”
As Valdez walked off after a six-pitch sixth inning, he saluted the fans as they rose to give him one last ovation for the day.
“I love the support they gave me,” he said. “I love the cheers. It made me feel like family and that’s really important to me. They treated me like family. It was important to me that I was able to pitch well and reciprocate the love they gave me.”
He is the first Tiger to post a quality start in the home opener since Michael Fulmer in 2017.
“We played out of a lot of big situations,” Dingler said. “The game felt close pretty much the entire way through. That’s our brand of ball. Obviously, the bats, we could’ve had better situational hitting, mostly from me. But overall, I thought that was exactly who we are.”
The Tigers’ offense took a couple of innings to break through against Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy, who in his debut last week pitched six, no-hit innings.
McGonigle brought the crowd to its feet, hitting a 403-foot shot leading off the bottom of the first inning. But centerfielder Victor Scott II tracked it down at the wall. Welcome to Comerica Park.
“I thought it was going to burn him at first, it almost did,” McGonigle said. “But, good swing. I’m not mad about it at all.”
The Tigers nearly scratched a run across in the third, but Javier Báez (who had two hits and an RBI) was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a two-out single by Gleyber Torres. Cardinals right-fielder Jordan Walker threw a 100-mph seed to the plate to cut down Báez.
At that point, the Tigers had not scored in 18 straight innings.
“I thought we were putting up good at-bats,” Hinch said. “Just not getting a ton to show for it. We needed that big breakthrough moment and we got it.”
After a ringing double by Riley Greene, Dingler unloaded on a sweeper from McGreevy and drove it 433 feet over the visitors’ bullpen in left-center. His second homer of the season and the longest of his career, the ball left Dingler’s bat at 105.9 mph.
“It caught the majority of the plate,” Dingler said. “I saw it, picked it up well and was able to put a good swing on it.”
The Tigers added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Riley Greene. It was his 500th career hit. He is still 25 years old. He the ball hard in each of his four at-bats, with exit velocities of 94, 111, 97.9 and 108.9 mph.
McGonigle started the rally with a one-out double but he was thrown out trying to get to third on a ground ball to the pitcher by Torres. An aggressive mistake.
“I’m not sure he could pick up the depth of the ball,” Hinch said. “It was a 3-0 swing and you expect a bullet and it wasn’t hit hard. The depth perception, it is the hardest one to read. It trickled out in front of the plate but got all the way to the pitcher.
“Just make a mistake and you internalize it. Just don’t be too hard on yourself and take it out onto the field.”
McGonigle, who handled all six of his defensive chances, made a good defensive play on a tough hop into his stomach on the first batter in the top of the sixth.
“He made some nice plays defensively that he made look easier than they were,” Hinch said. “This city is going to fall in love with this kid. We just have to let him play and let him learn and let him fail a little bit. Because he’s going to come out of it and continue to succeed and help us win every day.”
McGonigle looked calm and collected all day, but he was feeling all kinds of emotions. Especially during the pre-game introductions.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It’s one of those moments where you sit back and you feel like you are dreaming. The crowd was going crazy and I’m standing next to AJ. It was an unbelievable moment.”
All that was left was for the bullpen to secure the win. Which it did without drama. Will Vest (seventh), Kyle Finnegan (eighth) and Tyler Holton (ninth) closed it down.
“Obviously, we had a little bit of a scuffle there in Arizona, but we look past it,” DIngler said. “Today, this is the team that we are. Bullpen came in lights out like they usually do. The offense strung together some hits and we were able to put four across, supporting Framber’s outstanding outing.
“We have great starting pitching. We have a shutdown bullpen, top to bottom. And we have guys that put together good at-bats.”
Productive combination when all of those elements align.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers put clamps on Cards on Opening Day: ‘That was petty awesome’
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
