Detroit Tigers Pull Off Feat Not Seen Since Nearly World War II
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The Detroit Tigers defeated the Los Angeles Angels 10-4 on Thursday night in a thrilling first of a four-game set on the West Coast and the start of the second series in this 100-game road trip.
After trailing for most of the evening following big at-bats in the third and fourth innings from the Angels, the Tigers mounted an incredible late comeback powered by a five-run eighth inning.
Winning a game on the road especially in the midst of a lengthy trip away from home and to begin a new series is always nice, but Detroit did more than just win a game with their late rally.
They crossed a statistical threshold that an entire generation of fans has never seen before.
According to a post from the team's PR department, the last time the Tigers came back from a two or more run deficit in the 8th inning or later and eventually won by six or more runs did not happen anytime recently.
In fact, the last time it happened was August 6, 1947.
Prior to last night, the most recent Tigers comeback from a 2+ run deficit in the 8th inning-or-later, eventually winning the game by 6+ runs:
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) May 2, 2025
August 6, 1947 pic.twitter.com/XextAC63da
Though the statistic is perhaps a bit obscure, it still goes to show how special this 2025 team is and how they are doing things not seen by Detroit fans in a very long time.
On a night where the elite pitching staff did not have it from the jump, the Tigers found a way to rally and make it happen to become the first American League team to 20 wins this year.
Casey Mize battled through some serious adversity to throw three scoreless innings helped by some incredible defense from Javy Baez before Tommy Kahnle and Tyler Owens were able to shut things down.
Not only does this team have an incredible and reliable pitching staff, they have an offense which is not quite the fearsome lineup that some teams boast, but seems to come up with clutch and timely hitting when they need it the most.
With Tarik Skubal on the mound for the second game on Friday night, Detroit is going to try to take command of the series and put themselves in a position to hammer their way through the second half of the road trip.
With each passing game, this team looks more and more special.
Achieving a statistic that has not been seen for nearly eight decades is just the latest example of that indeed being the case.
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.