The Most Notable Stats From the Tigers' First June Victory
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The Detroit Tigers are officially in the win column this month after taking down the AL East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays by the final score of 10-9. While the game got to a point where Tigers' fans were biting their fingernails, Detroit came up with a much, much-needed victory.
In case you weren't watching or listening to the game live, you wouldn't know how many crazy statistics came from this series opener. For starters, the Tigers' win was their 94th win against the Rays in their head-to-head history, now putting these teams at a .500 record when against one another (94-94).
Tigers Tie Home Run Streak Since 2020
Detroit hit five home runs against Tampa Bay, with contributions from Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Hao-Yu Lee, and a twofer from Dillion Dingler. Dingler collected four hits in five at-bats, with each of his hits surpassing 100mph off the bat (106.5 MPH single, 105.0 MPH home run, 104.2 MPH home run, 109.2 MPH RBI double, via Just Baseball on X).
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, the Tigers' back-to-back-to-back home runs from Dingler, Carpenter, and Greene were the first time Detroit's accomplished that feat since Aug 8, 2020, via Miguel Cabrera, CJ Cron, and Jeimer Candelario.
The 10-run outbreak was the first time Detroit has scored double-digit runs since April 16 against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park. While the home runs were nice to watch for a struggling offense, some pitching numbers weren't the prettiest for Detroit.
Additionally, the Tigers' batters collected 15 hits in the victory, setting a season-high, passing the previous high of 14 hits, funny enough, in the 10-9 victory against the Royals in April.
Troubles on the Mound
Ty Madden made his return to the mound, his first off the injured list, and unfortunately started a trend that the bullpen continued. Detroit allowed eight walks to the Rays (Madden -2, Hanifee - 2, Sommers - 1, Brieske - 3), which almost ended up costing them the game, given six came around to score.
If it weren't for the offense, funny enough, the pitching staff would be to blame for the Tigers' fifth straight loss. However, the whole team banded together to earn a victory, hopefully kickstarting them for the month.
Both Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest, two relievers who had many excited for what the backend of the bullpen could be in Detroit ahead of the 2026 campaign, looked more like themselves on the mound in Tampa.
Will Vest set a career-high in the number of pitches thrown in a game with 40 (27 strikes), and Finnegan got his first strikeout since May 22 against the Baltimore Orioles. Those two truly kept the Tigers in the game, combining for three innings of work (1.1 - Finnegan, 1.2 - Vest), striking out three and allowing one run.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.