2 days Ago By Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Tigers continue to search for their first win in the 2025 season.They were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers — the reigning World Series champions — in the first three games of the new season at Dodger Stadium, capped by Saturday's 7-3 loss. (The Tigers won two of three games against the Dodgers last season, all at Comerica Park.
)The Tigers (0-3) finished 4-for-32 with runners in scoring position in the three-game series, all while the Dodgers hit three home runs in each of the three games.INJURY UPDATE: Colt Keith starts at 2B for Detroit TigersAlthough the Tigers were tough to beat in the first two games, the finale wasn't competitive.In Saturday's loss, the Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Rookie right-hander Rōki Sasaki has elite individual pitches, but he needs to clean up his command, as exemplified by his nine walks across 42⁄3 inning in two starts. His command issues were on display in the first inning, as he needed 41 pitches for three outs.The Tigers scored two runs in the process on Manuel Margot's bases-loaded single and Trey Sweeney's bases-loaded walk.
Everything went downhill from there.[ NEW TIGERS NEWSLETTER! Sign up for The Purr-fect Game, a weekly dose of Tigers news, numbers and analysis for Freep subscribers, here. ] Four runs vs.
Reese OlsonTigers right-hander Reese Olson allowed four runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts across 42⁄3 innings, throwing 93 pitches. He almost immediately squandered the lead, allowing one run apiece in the first and second innings.In the first, Freddie Freeman smoked a 95.
6 mph fastball — well-located on the down-and-in corner of the strike zone — for a solo home run to right-center.In the second, back-to-back hits from Andy Pages and Michael Conforto produced another run, with Pages hitting a middle-middle fastball for a single and Conforto hitting a middle-down changeup for a double.Just like that, the game was tied.
Buy our Tigers history book!In the fifth inning, the Tigers intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to put runners on the corners with two outs, allowing Olson to face right-handed Teoscar Hernández. The other option would've been to bring in left-handed reliever Brant Hurter to face Ohtani, with a runner on third and two outs.The Tigers, though, put runners on the corners and stuck with Olson.
And Hernández made them pay.He ripped Olson's middle-middle slider down the third-base line and into the left-field corner, driving in both runners. The two-run triple put the Dodgers ahead, 4-2.
After that, the Tigers replaced Olson with Hurter.ROUGH START: Detroit Tigers look like they haven't missed a beat in 2025 (despite getting beat twice)Kenta Maeda's first pitchRight-hander Kenta Maeda entered in the bottom of the seventh inning.His first pitch? A 79.
2 mph sweeper to Tommy Edman.The result? A solo home run to center field.The Dodgers extended their lead to 6-3 on Edman's home run, then made it 7-3 on Freeman's RBI double.
In two innings, Maeda allowed two runs on two hits and one walk with three strikeouts, throwing 29 pitches.Before Maeda, the Dodgers and Tigers traded runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. For the Dodgers, Will Smith hit a middle-middle changeup from Hurter for a solo home run, making it 5-2.
For the Tigers, Jake Rogers tripled on a ball in and out of Hernandez's glove in right, and Zach McKinstry drove him in with a single, making it 5-3.Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.
com/podcasts.This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers swept away by Los Angeles Dodgers sluggers again.
