Detroit Tigers trade targets to fix bullpen problem at All-Star break
On “Days of Roar” podcast, Evan Petzold evaluates relief pitching for Detroit Tigers at MLB All-Star break — and the big need to win the World Series.
The Detroit Tigers lost, 2-0, to the Texas Rangers, on Friday, July 18.Reese Olson threw 5 scoreless innings for the Tigers, allowing just two hits.The Rangers scored twice off reliever Tommy Kahnle in the eighth inning.
ARLINGTON, TX — Tommy Kahnle couldn’t miss bats and couldn’t throw strikes.
It was a recipe for a bad outing.
The Detroit Tigers were limited to four hits and lost, 2-0, to the Texas Rangers on Friday, July 18, in the opener of a three-game series at Globe Life Field. The Rangers scored both runs off Kahnle, a right-handed reliever, in the eighth inning.
The big swing: Corey Seager crushed Kahnle’s changeup for a two-run double, right after a two-out walk kept the inning alive.
The Tigers (59-39) have lost five games in a row.
On offense, the Tigers were shut down by left-hander Patrick Corbin. The 35-year-old completed 5⅔ scoreless innings on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts, throwing 92 pitches.
It was his second time dominating the Tigers.
Corbin has a 1.42 ERA in two starts against the Tigers within the past three months, but in his other 16 starts, he has a 4.27 ERA. In total, he owns a 3.91 ERA in 18 starts in the 2025 season.
Entering 2025, Corbin had a 5.71 ERA in 126 starts from 2021-24 with the Washington Nationals.
In the ninth inning, Spencer Torkelson gave the Tigers an opportunity for a comeback with a two-out single, but Jake Rogers — pinch-hitting for Colt Keith against left-handed reliever Robert Garcia — struck out swinging to end the game.
Riley Greene finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
The 24-year-old is hitting .281 with an .870 OPS, but he leads MLB with 127 strikeouts in 96 games. He’s on pace to finish the season with 210 strikeouts — well above the franchise record of 182 in a season, set by Cecil Fielder in 1990.
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Reese Olson allows 2 hits on 90 pitches
The Rangers threatened to score first in the sixth inning.
Right-hander Reese Olson allowed a leadoff double to Jonah Heim on his 90th pitch — a four-seam fastball. It was just the Rangers’ second hit, but the double sent the Tigers to their bullpen, calling on left-handed reliever Tyler Holton.
A sacrifice bunt advanced the runner to third base, but Holton stranded the runner when Seager struck out swinging on an up-and-away sweeper and Marcus Semien flew out to center on a first-pitch cutter.
The three outs from Holton ended the sixth inning.
Olson completed five-plus scoreless innings on two hits and one walk with six strikeouts, throwing 90 pitches. He faced 18 batters, of which 10 worked at least five pitches.
The 25-year-old still thrived by generating 13 whiffs on 44 swings for a 29.5% whiff rate, including seven whiffs from changeups and five whiffs from sliders. His four-seam fastball averaged 93.6 mph, down 1.2 mph from his average.
He has a 2.71 ERA in 12 starts.
The ump show
A questionable replay review on Greene’s missed catch in shallow left field and a bad call on Javier Báez’s tag attempt between first and second base put runners on the corners for the Rangers with one out in the third inning.
But Olson worked out of the jam.
On Greene’s play, third-base umpire Carlos Torres determined that the ball hit the turf before the glove, resulting in a single for Kyle Higashioka, but the Tigers immediately challenged. The replay review appeared to show the ball in Greene’s glove without hitting the turf, only for the call on the field to be confirmed. On Báez’s play, second-base umpire Alfonso Márquez didn’t see a tag attempt on Higashioka, so he didn’t call the runner out of the baseline, then Báez threw the ball past the first baseman for an error.
The single from Higashioka was the first of two hits for the Rangers against Olson.
To end the third, Olson struck out Seager with a slider.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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