Tigers allow double-digit runs again, fall 12-5 to surging Mets

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Sep 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Starting pitching wasn’t supposed to be a problem for the Detroit Tigers, but it absolutely is right now.

The New York Mets KO’d right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long with a five-run fourth inning Tuesday night and blitzed to a 12-5 win at Comerica Park. It was the Tigers’ seventh loss in nine games.

And in those nine games, the starting pitchers have been tagged for 40 runs, and that includes a scoreless outing by Tarik Skubal and a one-run outing by Jack Flaherty.

It’s a tough way to live, falling behind early and having to rely on the bullpen to cover five or six innings game after game.

Casey Mize, who has posted a 7.20 ERA in his last eight starts, gets the start on Wednesday.

What had been a strength most of the season has become a sudden concern.

Gipson-Long, officially called up before the game after a nearly three-week stint on the injured list, started well enough.

He threw a 3-0, center-cut fastball to Pete Alonso in the first inning. Alonso’s 32nd homer flew 435 feet into the second level of shrubs beyond the wall in center field.

But he dispatched seven straight hitters after that and was at an economical 37 pitches through three innings.

Then he walked Juan Soto to start the fourth inning, gave up an uncontested stolen base and things never got back on track. He ended up walking two, giving up an RBI single Jeff McNeil, a sacrifice fly to Cedric Mullins and a three-run homer off the foul pole in right to Luis Torrens.

It took him 31 pitches to finish the inning.

Earlier in the day, manager AJ Hinch announced that right-hander Chris Paddack was being moved to the bullpen and that Gipson-Long would likely either start or pitch in bulk relief next week against the New York Yankees.

Still, it seems that fifth spot in the rotation might remain in flux throughout the month, if not eliminated all together in favor of a series of opener-bulk reliever starts.

Things went poorly for Paddack, too, in his first relief outing since 2023.

Soto (No. 37) and Alonso (No. 33) started the seventh with back-to-back home runs and then the damn broke for real. When the dust settled, the Mets batted around for the second time (11 batters) and scored six runs.

Paddack faced 13 hitters and allowed eight hits. The Mets put 12 balls in play against him with an average exit velocity of 94.6 mph.

One of the hits, a double by Mark Vientos, was a long fly-ball that both Perez and Carpenter converged on in right center. Kerry Carpenter caught the ball initially but it got jarred loose when center fielder Wenceel Perez ran into him.

Catcher Jake Rogers had to mop up in the eighth, getting a double-play ball from Ronny Mauricio to end a scoreless innings.

The ugly ending belied an energetic start by the Tigers.

Mets’ rookie right-hander Nolan McLean had allowed just two runs in his first three big-league starts (20 1/3 inning). And the Tigers clipped him for two in the first inning.

Carpenter and Riley Greene drew two out walks and Spencer Torkelson and Perez cashed both in with RBI singles.

McLean had allowed just five hits to right-handed hitters in 33 at-bats before Torkelson’s single.

The inning ended with Perez getting thrown out at second base after Greene had scored.

The Tigers, though, didn’t put another runner into scoring position off McLean. From the end of the second inning through the sixth, he set down 14 straight hitters, striking out six of those.

The Tigers scored three in the ninth on back-to-back doubles by Justyn-Henry Malloy and Perez and an RBI single by Zach McKinstry.

The Tigers (80-60) started the night with a nine-game lead over the Royals in the Central Division.

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