Missed chances cost Tigers in Opening Day loss to Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernandez crushed a three-run homer and the Detroit Tigers squandered scoring opportunities in a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Tigers (0-1) and Dodgers (3-0) play twice more in the season-opening weekend.
Hernandez blasted Tarik Skubal’s first-pitch 97 mph fastball to deep center in the fifth inning to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.
Skubal was hit hard at times and struck out just two batters. In 2024, Skubal struck out five or more batters in 30 of his 31 starts.
The Tigers cut the lead to one run in the seventh inning when Spencer Torkelson hit a solo home run 423 feet to left field off Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia.
Torkelson drew a walk in each of his first three plate appearances against Dodgers starter Blake Snell.
The Tigers couldn’t get the big hit against Snell despite having base runners galore in the early innings.
The Tigers went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
Their first run came when Snell threw a base-loaded wild pitch in the fourth. They scored again on Manuel Margot’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Margot, playing in his first game with the Tigers, also had two singles.
Ryan Kreidler, a converted infielder starting in center field because of the Tigers’ rash of injuries, made an impressive running and then diving catch on the warning track, robbing Tommy Edman of a double or triple in the fourth inning.
Edman homered off Skubal in the second inning.
Shohei Ohtani added a solo homer in the seventh inning off Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee.
The Tigers cut the lead back to one when Zach McKinstry, a left-handed hitter, led off the eighth inning with a triple against Dodgers lefty Tanner Scott. McKinstry scored on a sacrifice fly by Kerry Carpenter.
Gleyber Torres led off the ninth inning with a single against Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen. After Torkelson drew a one-out walk, his fourth of the game, Treinen struck out pinch-hitter Trey Sweeney. Colt Keith popped out to first base to end the game.
Tigers 4, Dodgers 5: Spencer Torkelson says walks are good for your health
Welcome to the 2025 regular season! The Tigers are on the west coast, getting some late-night games out of the way early, and they were squaring off against the biggest spenders of the offseason: the Los Angeles Dodgers. The pitching matchup saw 2024 Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal up against 2018 and 2023 Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
The Tigers were using a relatively untested outfield, but the game would provide plenty to test their mettle, so let’s see how things went for the first game of the season.
In the first inning things didn’t start out too hot for the Tigers with Andy Ibanez, Gleyber Torres, and Riley Greene going 1-2-3 against Snell. Thankfully, despite the scouting reports telling the Dodgers to swing away on Skubal, they also went down in order.
As we head to the second, let’s take a moment to be grateful for Jason Benetti, who is not announcing this game, but the ESPN commentary is so bad it reminds me that we are very lucky for every other game. The ESPN crew does not seem to be aware there are two teams playing, as their singular focus for this game has been talking about the Dodgers and only the Dodgers.
