'It went foul quick': Tork's near slam encapsulates Tigers' frustrating May

DETROIT – The fifth-inning drive from Spencer Torkelson brought the crowd at Comerica Park to its feet on Tuesday night, ready to celebrate, as it soared down the left-field line.

“Tork gives it a ride,” said TV play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, teeing up a grand slam call.

The slight cringe in Torkelson’s face as he watched it from the other batter’s box, leaning toward first base in a spiritual effort to keep it fair, was a sign that it was not meant to be.

“Yeah, it went foul quick,” Torkelson said. “But I was obviously very hopeful at first.”

Three innings later, as center fielder Matt Vierling chased Vaughn Grissom’s opposite-field drive, hoping the cutout in right-center field would give him a play. Finally, he ran out of room as the ball hit high off the old wall to put the Angels in front for good.

“Our homer went two feet foul,” manager A.J. Hinch lamented after the 10-6 loss. “Their homer went 10 feet over the fence. Both for four runs.”

To be fair, there was plenty more that went into the Angels’ comeback, from the other outs to squander a bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth, to Will Vest’s lengthy quest for a fifth out that culminated in Grissom’s grand slam as Detroit’s bullpen was finally warming. But Vest had nearly escaped the eighth inning twice: Logan O’Hoppe’s double off the right-field wall was seemingly in Wenceel Pérez’s range, then Zach Neto’s two-out comebacker was seemingly headed to second base when it ricocheted off Vest’s backside for an infield single.

Grissom’s home run came on Vest’s 34th pitch of the night, tying his season high. He's thrown more pitches in just three other outings in his Tigers tenure.

“We had two outs and a runner on first with Will Vest and the ball in his hands,” Hinch said. “He can make pitches to get that out. I know we don’t like it when it doesn’t happen, but he can get that out.”

Said Vest: “I think it just came down to execution. Towards the end, just wasn't able to execute the fastball.”

Still, it’s a results business. And the boos that began as Grissom rounded the bases amplified by the time the Tigers were retired in order in the bottom of the eighth, sending several fans toward the exits. Even the right-field section of shirtless “tarps off” fans, echoing a trend that began as a rallying cry in St. Louis, had scattered after the Angels pulled in front, despite pleas from a couple of fans noting the game wasn’t over.

The Tigers’ seventh consecutive loss at home -- tying two such streaks during last year’s late-season collapse -- dropped them to 5-18 in May, putting them at risk for their worst May since they went 4-23 in 1996. A skid that began as seemingly a repeat of low-scoring losses has turned into a Murphy’s Law re-enactment, now featuring a bullpen that was often the strength of the team over the past couple of seasons. The battle-to-the-last-out philosophy that became the team culture from the stretch run of 2024 through the hot start last season is now being used against them.

Asked how much they’re wearing it, Vest said, “I’d say we’re wearing it.”

The frustration level is mounting, in the dugout as well as in the stands.

“I don’t know that anything can add to the frustration,” Hinch said, “because it’s already at a pretty high level. I mean, it doesn’t matter how you lose; it’s still frustrating. So, yeah, you want to address things and get back in that belief that when you have wins, you’re going to get to the finish line.

“You look up tonight’s game, two outs, a runner on first, a two-run lead with four outs to go, and a five-spot comes up. That’s a hard one to digest right after the game.”

Said Torkelson: “We're all frustrated. I feel like we all have a little bit more to give to this team, but it's just not happening right now. I mean, Vesty took one off his butt cheek. [If not], that's right to the second baseman, that's out of the inning. But it's just the way it's going right now for us. But it'll turn around. Keep showing up, keep grinding. I thought we had some clutch innings to come back right there, and then the last punch, we just couldn't take. But I'm really proud of the way we played early in the game.”