DETROIT -- The Tigers invested big in a star-studded rotation to help them go for it in 2026. They picked up a big win Sunday night by taking a page out of manager A.J. Hinch’s “pitching chaos” playbook from two years ago, when they didn’t have enough starters to fill out a rotation but enough arms to make a run to the playoffs.
“Felt nostalgic, for sure,” catcher Jake Rogers said half-jokingly.
And if the Tigers make another run this October with their formidable starters lined up, they can look back at Sunday’s 7-1 win over the Rangers as a potential turning point. On a night when Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter looked unhittable for four innings, the Tigers traded zeros with him by mixing and matching relievers until they got the big swing they needed.
“Huge,” said Spencer Torkelson, whose two-run homer in the fifth swung the game in Detroit’s favor. “I think it’s just huge for our confidence. There’s so many different ways to win a baseball game. Even when a starter’s got all of his pitches working and he’s punching us out every other batter, we can stay locked in, because someone’s going to get a mistake and someone’s going to be able to capitalize.”
Sure, they’d rather have a dominant starter rolling like Leiter was. And between Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez, they have plenty of opportunities for those type of outings. But it probably says more about this team that it can still win a game this way.
“I’m just really, really proud of our mindset,” Hinch said, “as much as I am for our production.”
Two years after Hinch popularized the “pitching chaos” label, it’s still a bit of a misnomer. What looks chaotic from the outside -- pitchers entering at nontraditional points in a game -- often hides the logic behind it. Sunday was about more than filling the innings left when Casey Mize went on the injured list last week. It was about winning a series and putting together back-to-back victories for the first time since the last homestand (April 22-23 against the Brewers).
Once lefty Tyler Holton jogged in from the bullpen to open the game and right-hander Brenan Hanifee immediately began warming, Hinch’s logic began to emerge: Match up lefties for Brandon Nimmo and Corey Seager early in the order, then look for length behind them.
“I trust Tyler Holton against any group of hitters,” Hinch said. “When he’s at his best, he’s pretty incredible. When he’s not at his best, he’s very competitive and will give us everything that he has. He’s used to it. It’s not new to him. And it gives them a decision point on how to stack their lineup, righties and lefties.”
Holton’s start lasted just three batters by design, but it worked. He didn’t retire Nimmo, but he fanned Seager. Hanifee gave up a two-out single to Josh Jung but retired his next five batters. Brant Hurter, quietly one of the Tigers’ success stories in a shorter role this season, took the second turn through the Rangers lineup, striking out Nimmo and Seager, then retired them both again, including Seager on a double play to erase a leadoff baserunner in the sixth.
The trio combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings, but that was half the challenge. Somehow, they had to figure out Leiter.
Leiter -- roughed up in his MLB debut at Comerica Park two years ago -- retired Detroit’s first 12 batters in order with six strikeouts. With a fastball crossing 98 mph and a curveball that was dropping into the strike zone at 84 mph, Leiter kept Tigers hitters guessing until he worked back into the middle of the order in the fifth.
“I mean, holy cow,” Rogers said. “Those first 3-4 innings, I don’t think he missed a spot. It was absolutely incredible.”
Said Torkelson: “He was sharp; I feel like he had a lot working for him. It was staying ready for a mistake.”
The first mistake was a four-pitch walk to Riley Greene leading off the fifth. The second mistake was a hanging slider to Torkelson after putting him in an 0-2 hole on fastballs.
Torkelson crushed fastballs in the zone during his five-game homer streak last week. But he feasted on Leiter’s slider.
“I say it a lot, but he really is one swing away from changing the game,” Hinch said. “The homer was a game-changer, literally.”
The game swung from there. Leiter struck out 10 but left with five runs over 6 2/3 innings. Hurter (4-0) tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his team-leading fourth win of the season. With Skubal and Valdez lined up the next two nights against the Red Sox, the Tigers can go back to riding their aces. But their throwback win potentially looms large.