KANSAS CITY -- Baseball’s streakiest team is at it again. And even the hottest pitcher in the big leagues couldn’t halt this latest skid.
The Tigers dropped the opener to the Royals, 5-2, on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium for their sixth loss in the past seven games. Detroit is now 2 1/2 games behind Texas for the third and final AL Wild Card spot after holding sole possession of it just a week ago.
That’s the nature of this one-of-a-kind race in the American League, and the Tigers are no strangers to the madness. They were part of MLB’s biggest postseason storylines the past two years -- with an incredible run in 2024 to reach the postseason before a historic division crumble in 2025.
So, what’s in store for the end of 2026?
The Tigers (61-67) got within a game of .500 despite sitting 16 under the break-even mark at the end of May. The past week has quickly shifted the good vibes that filled the clubhouse a few days ago, but the team isn’t panicking.
“We’re not getting blown out. We’re in all these games,” said Troy Melton, who took just his second loss of the season after his ERA rose to 1.60 after allowing three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings. “There are some things we could do better to win some of the games, but I really don’t think we are playing horrible. Would you like to win all the games? Yeah. But I still really feel like we’re playing the right brand and we’re close.”
With Melton, the Tigers are usually better than close -- they’re normally ahead. But Friday was the 25-year-old’s second outing where he left and wasn’t particularly happy with his performance.
It was simply Melton’s poor execution and the Royals not missing mistakes that proved decisive. The two biggest misses came in back-to-back innings towards the end of his outing when Melton missed a pair of cutters off the plate to Kyle Isbel in the fifth and was forced to throw a four-seamer to get back in the count -- which ran over the middle of the plate and was hit out of In the sixth, Vinnie Pasquantino held off on a pair of sliders low and away before crushing a middle-middle cutter over the right-field bullpen.
“I don’t think I threw the ball very well,” Melton said. “I don’t think it was terrible by any means, I mean, I gave us a general chance to win the game. But a lot of hard contact, I was never able to finish with two strikes, walked three guys. Definitely would like to be better.”
And for the most part, he has been. Melton entered having allowed one or no earned runs in 11 of his 14 starts this season. If that sounds incredible -- it’s because it is. His 1.49 ERA entering the game was the second-lowest mark after 14 starts in a season by a Tiger (Al Benton, 0.91) since ERA became an official stat in 1913.
With Tarik Skubal now in Dodger blue and Casey Mize in San Diego, the ultra-talented but unproven Melton has morphed into the Tigers’ ace during a playoff chase. That’s tough for anyone -- especially a player nearing his professional career high in innings with the pressure building every start.
Melton’s margin for error was also slim to none as the Tigers were held scoreless against Royals starter Noah Cameron for five innings. Detroit was able to score a pair of runs on two-out knocks in the seventh, but Dillon Dingler struck out in the ninth representing the tying run to end the game.
The situation is clear -- the Tigers (9.9% chance to make the playoffs per FanGraphs) need to win games. For them to do that, Melton has to be an ace. The offense needs to put up more than two runs. Oh, and Los Angeles (77-51) and Tampa Bay (76-52) await Detroit beginning Monday for a pivotal six-game homestand.
It won’t get easier, but the Tigers have the right attitude -- and the history -- of making the improbable a reality with a late-season run.
“Our mindset will never change just because of a bad stretch,” said Kevin McGonigle. “If anything, it’s gonna make us better.
“I’m not really looking at the standings. I’m not looking at any of that. I think the best thing we can do right now is go out and play hard and try to win as many baseball games as we can and see what happens.”