DETROIT — If you can’t quite place the song I took this recap’s headline from, here it is:
The Cubs lost the series opener to the Tigers 3-1 in front of a raucous crowd that made Friday evening feel like a postseason game. (And wouldn’t it be great to see these two teams in this year’s World Series?)
Ben Brown pitched an outstanding game. Good defensive plays were made. And yet, the Cubs made some baserunning mistakes and errors that might have cost them the chance to defeat Tarik Skubal, who’s got a chance to win a second straight Cy Young Award, and who also had himself a terrific outing.
Neither team scored over the first four innings. Here’s Brown striking out Kerry Carpenter to end the first with a nasty knuckle curve [VIDEO].
Pete Crow-Armstrong sent a ball to deep left in the second, but Riley Greene made this great running catch [VIDEO].
The Tigers threatened with two hits in the bottom of the second, but the Cubs got out of the inning with this double play [VIDEO].
With two out in the third, Matt Shaw beat out an infield single, after review [VIDEO].
But Shaw was stranded when Ian Happ struck out.
Old friend Javy Báez stole a hit from Kyle Tucker in the fourth with this slick sliding stop [VIDEO].
Then came the play that might have changed the complexion of this game. PCA led off the fifth with a single off Skubal. Dansby Swanson then sent a line-drive double to left [VIDEO].
That was a major TOOTBLAN by PCA. First, he hesitated around third, possibly seeing the stop sign held up by third-base coach Quintin Berry. Then … what are you thinking, PCA? You’re fast, but the ball is right there. Even if he hadn’t been tagged out, it appears third-base umpire Mike Muchlinski called him out for being out of the baseline.
Here are Craig Counsell’s thoughts on the play:
I dunno. Counsell is defending his coach here, but watch the video again — Berry appears to be holding up PCA. And in any case, if PCA holds third, the Cubs have runners on second and third with nobody out and a real chance to score off Skubal. Instead, there’s a runner on second and one out, and instead of Nico Hoerner’s fly to center being a run-scoring sac fly, it was just the second out of the inning. (Yes, I know pitching sequencing might not have resulted in that fly ball with two runners on. Still.) Then Justin Turner struck out to end the inning.
The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with three straight singles off Brown after the first two were routine outs.
That’s a general description of the inning, but what I left out there was Shaw’s misplay of Báez’s ground ball. Shaw cut in front of Swanson and bobbled the ball, and Javy was safe. It was ruled a hit and come on now, that was an error both in judgment and commission. Shaw should have let Swanson make that play.
Instead, it was followed by two more hits that gave Detroit a 1-0 lead. If Shaw’s misplay would have been correctly been ruled an error, the run off Brown would have been unearned. It could still wind up being changed.
The Cubs did get that run back in the top of the sixth. Shaw led off with a double [VIDEO].
One out later, Tucker doubled him in [VIDEO].
Tucker took third on a fly to center by Seiya Suzuki, but was stranded when Carson Kelly struck out [VIDEO].
Spencer Torkelson homered off Brown with one out in the sixth to give the Tigers their one-run lead back. But that was the only real mistake Brown made in his second straight outstanding game. He walked one — the only walk of the game — and struck out seven [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Brown’s outing [VIDEO].
As you can see, Brown threw eight changeups in 92 pitches — nine percent of his pitches, more changeups than in any other start this year, and I think that made him more effective. If Brown can command that changeup the way he did Friday night, he will have many more starts like this. Here’s Counsell on Brown:
“Last two starts we’ve gotten the great Ben Brown.”
Craig Counsell applauds Ben Brown’s performance tonight. pic.twitter.com/NtieVcSKBl
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 7, 2025
The Cubs, I thought, did pretty well off Skubal — eight hits and a run was more than he’d given up in his two previous starts combined, and could have had more if not for the TOOTBLAN.
In the eighth, the Cubs had another real chance to score. Turner led off the inning with a single and Jon Berti ran for him. Berti was forced at second by Shaw… but Shaw was then caught trying to steal second [VIDEO].
It wasn’t a bad idea — that would have put the tying run in scoring position with one out. Dillon Dingler made a perfect throw and Báez made a perfect tag.
What makes that even tougher to take is what happened next — both Happ and Tucker singled. That would have produced at least one run. It did get Skubal out of the game, and A.J. Hinch called on his closer, Will Vest, for a four-out save.
This fantastic catch by Carpenter robbed Suzuki of at least a double [VIDEO].
That’s not a home run — as you can see, that ball would have hit high off the wall. Still, if Carpenter doesn’t catch it, the Cubs probably score two runs. A tip o’ the cap to Carpenter.
And for his great catch, Carpenter got pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth! Jahmai Jones, just recalled from Triple-A by the Tigers. homered off Génesis Cabrera to make it 3-1 Detroit.
The Cubs did have a chance in the ninth. With one out, PCA singled but was forced at second by Swanson. That play was very close, and was reviewed [VIDEO].
It was ruled “call stands,” but that’s how close the Cubs were to having the tying run on base. Also, you can’t see it on that clip, but while that play was being reviewed, PCA and Javy had a quick chat and exchanged hugs.
After that, Nico grounded out to end the game [VIDEO].
It’s not often that you can be at a game in early June that felt like a postseason game, but this one did. It was the third full house at Comerica Park this year (after Opening Day and a game where they gave away “mystery” Skubal bobbleheads) and everyone was into nearly every pitch. I’d say the crowd was maybe 25 percent Cubs fans. Had this been a postseason game, you’d be talking about it for years to come. It’s not impossible for these teams to meet in this year’s World Series… yes, a dream, but who knows?
Here’s PCA on the atmosphere:
“We play at Wrigley Field every day, too. Electricity is something we’re used to.”
PCA on the atmosphere surrounding tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/A2CXlPEEcC
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 7, 2025
One last note on this game from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs’ two pitchers walked one batter — the fourth straight game in which they issued a lone walk. They had a similar streak last year, July 26-29, and those are the Cubs’ only such streaks since 1984. They had nine earlier four-game, one-walk streaks, the last two of those in 1941 and 1968. Their record is five games in a row, set in 1909 and tied in 1916 and 1918.
The Cubs had walked one and two batters in the games before the one-walk streak began, so they have walked two or fewer in six straight games. They did that last year, too. They had a seven-game streak in 2017. Their longest was 11 games, in 1908. They have had three streaks of 11 games, the last in 1963.
Brown’s walk of Parker Meadows in the third was the only one of the game. That helped this game run only 2:13, despite a pair of replay reviews.
The Cubs will try to even up this series Saturday afternoon in Detroit. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs. Originally, the Tigers had Keider Montero listed as their starter, but now they have scheduled Tyler Holton to start. Holton will be an opener for Montero. Game time is 12:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Tigers market territories). Today’s BCB game preview will post at 10:30 a.m. CT.