Kevin McGonigle leads Tigers to first win over Guardians in 2026

A two-out rally in the fifth inning led the Detroit Tigers to their first win of the season over the Cleveland Guardians in the series opener on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The Tigers scored the decisive three runs on a two-run double from rookie Kevin McGonigle and an RBI single from Gleyber Torres to break a tie in Detroit’s 6-4 win over the Guardians. The Tigers dropped the first six games of 2026 with Cleveland, an AL Central rival, in a four-game sweep in May and two losses in June.

Coming into Tuesday, the Tigers (59-60) had lost 11 of the last 12 regular-season meetings with Cleveland, with an AL wild-card series win over the Guardians placed (58-62) in the middle of that stretch.

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The Tigers added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh after Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry reached on walks. Báez tried to steal third, and Guardians star José Ramírez dropped the throw, allowing him to score. McGonigle drove in his third run with a single into center field.

Tigers right-handed starter Drew Anderson surrendered one run in four innings. Jacob Waguespack, Drew Sommers, Kyle Finnegan, Tyler Holton and Kenley Jansen combined to pitch the final five innings from the bullpen. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, as Jansen loaded the bases in the ninth with two outs before getting out of the jam with a sac-fly and groundout.

The Tigers, tied for second place in the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins, picked up their eighth win over the last 10 games. The Tigers now sit three games behind the White Sox with Chicago and Minnesota still in action on Tuesday night. The Tigers are one game behind the Texas Rangers, who play late on Tuesday, in the AL wild-card race.

After recording his first professional hit at his new home ballpark, rookie Max Clark got to touch home plate at Comerica Park for the first time thanks to his best friend in the clubhouse, McGonigle. Clark slapped a single the opposite way and then moved into scoring position on a Javier Báez single.

With two outs, McGonigle roped a double down the right field line, narrowly staying inside the chalk, to give the Tigers a two-run lead. Gleyber Torres drove in McGonigle with a single up the middle.

The Tigers jumped ahead early after Riley Greene got hit by a pitch in the leg in the second inning. First baseman Spencer Torkelson drove him in with a double deep in the left-center field gap. The Tigers pulled Greene from the game after rounding the bases. He is being evaluated for right hamstring tightness.

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McGonigle capped off Detroit’s two-run seventh inning with a single into center field. Báez’s aggressive base running, even if he would have been out without an error by Ramírez, sparked the insurance runs to answer Cleveland’s run in the top of the frame.

The Tigers recorded six hits and drew three walks. McGonigle finished 2-of-4 with three RBIs.

Anderson surrendered one run on four hits and two walks in four innings. Cleveland rookie Chase DeLauter did the lone damage with a towering solo home run in the third inning.

Anderson stranded runners in the first, second and fourth innings. Right fielder Zach McKinstry saved a run with a leaping catch in the right-center field gap in the top of the first. Anderson then stranded two runners in the second by striking out the bottom three hitters in the Guardians lineup consecutively. There was some loud contact, but Anderson mitigated the impact.

Waguespack took over in the fifth. He had to work around the two first Guardians batters reaching in the sixth by getting three straight popouts or flyouts.

Sommers gave up one run in four batters faced in the top of the seventh before giving way to Kyle Finnegan with two outs.

Finnegan remained in for the eighth and gave up a leadoff solo home run to Jo Adell, a Guardians trade deadline addition. The Guardians loaded the bases against Jensen in the ninth, but only scored one run before he picked up his 14th save.

The second game between the Tigers and Guardians is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Comerica Park (Detroit SportsNet/WXYT 97.1 FM). Tigers left-handed starting pitcher Framber Valdez (7-7, 4.17 ERA) is scheduled to face off against Guardians left-hander Foster Griffin (12-4, 3.31 ERA).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kevin McGonigle leads Tigers to first win over Guardians in 2026