Can Detroit Tigers get to 96 wins in 2025? Here’s what it would take
On “Days of Roar,” Evan Petzold and Chris Brown break down what’s going right for the Detroit Tigers in the past month, plus if 96 wins is achievable.
The Detroit Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, on Saturday night.Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning on a two-run homer for the Royals.Jack Flaherty allowed just one run in 5â…” innings in his start for the Tigers.
KANSAS CITY, MO — Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. climbed the ladder to attack a four-seam fastball from Detroit Tigers left-handed reliever Tyler Holton at the top of the strike zone, doing so with a runner on first base and one out in the eighth inning.
The result?
A two-run home run.
The Tigers lost, 3-1, to the Royals on Saturday, Aug. 30, in the second of three games in the series at Kauffman Stadium. The go-ahead swing from Witt marked his 20th homer in 134 games, giving him at least 20 in each season of his four-year MLB career.
The Tigers (79-58) have lost five of six games.
The momentum built in favor of Witt’s clutch home run when Holton walked pinch-hitter Tyler Tolbert on seven pitches. He missed with the sixth and seventh pitches in two-strike counts, issuing a free pass to the speedster.
Two pitches later, Witt changed the game by hitting Holton’s fastball to center field for a 427-foot home run.
In 2025, Holton has surrendered 14 home runs in 65â…” innings — approximately once every 4â…” innings. From 2023-24, he gave up just 16 home runs in 179â…” innings — once every 11 innings. As a result, Holton’s ERA, which sat at 2.15 over that two-year span, is at 3.84 this season.
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Before the bad ending, right-hander reliever Tommy Kahnle turned in his fourth consecutive scoreless appearance, spanning 4â…“ innings. More notably, Kahnle pitched in his first key situation in a long time. (Before this stretch, Kahnle had allowed 22 runs over 13â…“ innings in 17 games.)
In Saturday’s game, Kahnle entered in a 1-1 tie with a runner on first base and two outs in the sixth inning. He struck out Maikel Garcia on four changeups in a row to end the inning.
He then returned for a scoreless seventh inning.
Kahnle, who registered a 1.35 ERA in his first 32 games, has been working toward regaining the Tigers’ trust in high-leverage situations, with Saturday’s performance serving as an important step in the right direction.
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Jack Flaherty starts
Right-hander Jack Flaherty allowed one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 5â…” innings, throwing 101 pitches. The 29-year-old surrendered the lone run in the fourth inning.
In the fourth, Garcia smacked a solo home run on Flaherty’s curveball at the bottom of the strike zone.
The homer tied the game, 1-1.
Aside from Garcia’s swing, Flaherty limited damage despite more hard contact and fewer whiffs compared to what usually happens during his starts.
Here’s the data: Flaherty generated just six whiffs on 42 swings for a 14.3% whiff rate (worse than his average 28.6% whiff rate) and allowed a 94.8 mph average exit velocity on 15 balls in play (worse than his average 92.8 mph exit velocity).
Flaherty owns a 4.74 ERA in 27 starts.
For his six starts in August, Flaherty limited opposing teams to one run or fewer in three starts: Aug. 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies (one run), Aug. 18 against the Houston Astros (zero runs) and Aug. 30 against the Royals (one run).
Facing the Royals, Flaherty stranded two runners in the first inning by inducing an inning-ending double. Catcher Dillon Dingler helped Flaherty by throwing out a runner trying to steal second base for the second out in the fifth inning.
Gleyber Torres strikes first
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
Back-to-back singles from Dingler and Trey Sweeney set the table for Gleyber Torres with runners on the corners and two outs against right-hander Stephen Kolek. Torres snuck a ground ball through the infield for an RBI single.
With Kolek on the mound, the Tigers went three up, three down in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Dingler provided a leadoff single, but the next three batters stranded him.
Kolek — who mixed six different pitch types — allowed one run on four hits and zero walks with three strikeouts across six innings, throwing 71 pitches.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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