DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS DEFEAT A’S IN SERIES OPENER: The Tigers opened their series against the Athletics with a 7-3 win on Thursday night. Tarik Skubal was dominant over 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts en route to earning his seventh win of the season. Offensively, Andy Ibáñez had a pair of hits, including a triple, and drove in two, while Matt Vierling added two hits, including a double, and a RBI. Kerry Carpenter also had two hits with a double.

SKUBAL CONTINUES TO SHINE: Tarik Skubal continued his impressive stretch of pitching last night, throwing 7.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts. It marked his third straight start with one-or-fewer earned run allowed and nine-or-more strikeouts, becoming the second player in franchise history to do so, joining Justin Verlander in 2009. Over his last five starts, Skubal is 4-1 with a 1.41 ERA (32.0IP/5ER) and 44 strikeouts.

START ME UP: With Tarik Skubal’s start last night, Tigers starting pitchers have allowed three runs-or-less in 21 of the last 24 games. Over hat span, Detroit’s starting rotation has combined for a 2.72 ERA (112.1IP/34ER) and 121 strikeouts. Since August 27, the Tigers lead the American League and rank second in the Majors in ERA, WHIP (1.10) and opponent batting average (.195).

KEEP CALM AND KERRY ON: Kerry Carpenter posted his 34th multi-hit game of the season and his ninth in September last night, going 2×4 with a double and a walk. Since August 4, Carpenter is slashing .343/.396/.564 with nine doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 28 RBI in 45 games.
During that span, he ranks third in the American League in batting average, while he is sixth in slugging percentage and OPS (.960), seventh on on-base percentage and tied for 10th in RBI.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Brenan Hanifee made his Major League debut last night, throwing the final two innings of the game and allowing three runs on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts He became the seventh Tigers player to make his debut this season.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 5-2 on their current 10-game road trip, which includes three games at Los Angeles (AL) (3-0), three games at Los
Angeles (NL) (1-2) and four games at Oakland (1- 0). Detroit is 40-38 away from Comerica Park this season. With a win tonight, Detroit can clinch its first winning road record in a season since 2016 (41-40). As a team, the Tigers are hitting .230/.296/.380 on the road, while the pitching staff has a 4.01 ERA (676.1IP/301ER).

TIGERS AND ATHLETICS: The Tigers and Athletics continue their second series of the season tonight. The two teams have split their first four games this season. In 2022, the Tigers went 2-5 against the A’s, including splitting two games at the Oakland Coliseum.

INJURY REHAB UPDATE: Andrew Vasquez made an injury rehab appearance with Triple A Toledo last night, throwing two-thirds of an inning and allowing four unearned runs on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Vasquez has been on the injured list since August 29 with left calf tightness.

TIGERS ON THE IL:

• LHP Tyler Alexander (left lat/shoulder strain, 60-day IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3)
• LHP Matthew Boyd (left elbow sprain, 60-day IL on June 27)
• RHP Mason Englert (left hip tightness, 15-day IL on July 24, retroactive to July 23)
• RHP Alex Faedo (right third finger blister, 15-day IL on September 19, retroactive to September 16)
• OF Riley Greene (right elbow inflammation, 60-day IL on September 2)
• RHP Matt Manning (right foot fracture, 15-day IL on September 7)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• LHP Andrew Vasquez (left calf tightness, 15-day IL on August 29, retroactive to August 28)

TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER

66 Sawyer Gipson-Long • 1-0, 2.70 ERA (10.0IP/3ER)

• Gipson-Long will make the third start of his Major League career tonight at Oakland. Last pitched on Saturday at Los Angeles (AL), throwing 5.0 innings and giving up a run on two hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts, the most by a Tigers pitcher this season…became the third pitcher in franchise history to have double-digit strikeouts in one of his first two career starts, joining Jack Morris (11 strikeouts on July 31, 1977) and Ralph Comstock (11 strikeouts on September 1, 1913). Made his big league debut on September 10 vs. Chicago (AL) and picked up the win, giving up two runs on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts…became the first pitcher in franchise history to throw at least 5.0 innings with no walks and at least five strikeouts in his debut and was the first Tigers pitcher to earn a win in his debut since Garrett Hill on July 4, 2022 vs. Cleveland (Game 1). Has made 22 appearances, including 19 starts, between Double A Erie and Triple A Toledo this season, posting an 8-8 record with a 4.33 ERA (99.2IP/48ER) and 126 strikeouts. Was acquired by the Tigers from Minnesota in exchange for Michael Fulmer on August 2, 2022…was originally drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Mercer University.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:

ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s lost their 107th game of the season last night, which is one short of the Oakland record of 108 set in 1979…it is fourth most in Athletics history (117 in 1916, 109 in 1915)…have lost eight straight and 10 of the last 12 games and are 46-107 (.301) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (51-102, .333)…are 61 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 1919 season 68 under (36-104)… this is the third 100-loss season in Oakland history and the 18th in Athletics history…have lost 209 games over the last two years, which are the A’s most in consecutive seasons since the Philadelphia A’s had 210 losses from 1919- 20…have a run differential of -333, which is the lowest in the majors this year and tied for second lowest this century (-337 by 2003 Tigers, -333 by 2019 Tigers)…the lowest mark in Athletics history is -344 in 1915.

EIGHT-GAME LOSING STREAK: The A’s have an eight-game losing streak, which is their fourth losing streak of eight or more games this year (11, May 17-28; 8, July 6-17; 8, June 14-22)…have not led during the streak and the eight-game streak without a lead is the longest in Athletics history…are batting .185 (46-for-249) with 16 runs scored during the streak and have a 6.21 ERA (49 er in 71.0 ip)…have been outscored 54-16 in the eight games (-38 or -4.75 per game)…starting pitchers have seven of the losses and a 7.42 ERA (25 er in 30.1 ip) while tossing five innings or fewer in seven of the eight games… the defense has committed six errors in the last three games and eight during the streak.

OFFENSE: The A’s rank last in the majors in batting (.223), slugging (.371), OPS (.670), runs scored (553) and extra base hits (395)…are tied with the Tigers for the lead in most times shut out (15), rank second in lowest on-base percentage (.299) and fewest doubles (212), seventh in most strikeouts (1407), ninth in fewest walks (471) and 10th in fewest home runs (163)…have 27 sacrifice hits, which is second most and the most by an A’s team since 2012 (27…had 34 in 2011)…have been hit by a pitch 82 times, which is sixth most in the majors and fourth most in Oakland history (98 in 2021, 88 in 2001, 87 in 2019).

IN THE PINCH: The A’s have 40 pinch hits, which matches the most by an American League team over the last 26 years (Rays, 2015)…the last AL team with more than 40 pinch hits is the 1997 A’s (57), and that is the only Oakland team in the designated hitter era with more than 40 pinch hits…the A’s have the most pinch hits in the majors and have not led the majors in pinch hits since 1927 when they had 50…have 192 plate appearances, which is second most in the majors and second most by an A’s team in the designated hitter era (195 in 1997)…are also tied for fourth in the majors in walks (17), tied for eighth in doubles (5) and home runs (4) and tied for ninth in extra base hits (9).

PITCHING: The A’s have a 5.56 ERA, which is second highest in the majors…it is currently the highest in Oakland history (5.48 in 1997) and third highest in Athletics history (6.07 in 1936, 5.79 in 1939)…have the second highest opponents OPS (.811) and on-base percentage (.356) in the majors, the third highest slugging percentage (.456) and fourth highest batting average (.267)… lead the majors with 94 hit by pitches, which is one short of the American League record of 95 set by the 2003 Tampa Bay Devil Rays…the Major League record is 110, set by the Reds last year…lead the majors with 657 walks, which are third most in Oakland history (680 in 1993, 667 in 1986)…have allowed 203 home runs, which are fifth most in the majors and third most in Oakland history (210 in 2017, 205 in 1996)…also have the most wild pitches in the majors this year (70), rank fourth in fewest shutouts (5) and fifth in fewest strikeouts (1222).

STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 17-68 with a 5.84 ERA…have the fewest wins in the majors, the most losses and the second highest ERA…the fewest wins from starting pitchers in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…the ERA is currently second highest in Oakland history (5.94 in 1997)…have tossed one inning or fewer 13 times, three innings or fewer 30 times and fewer than five innings 64 times…have a 17-33 record when pitching enough innings to qualify for the win…have logged 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the second fewest innings pitched in the majors (690.2)…will set an Athletics record for fewest innings pitched by starting pitchers in a full season (previous: 824.1 in 2018).

THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen walked two batters yesterday and now has 349 walks for the season, which breaks the Tigers Major League record for most walks by a bullpen set in 1996 (347)…has set Athletics single-season records for most losses (39), innings pitched (652.0) and runs allowed (413) by relievers…has the second most hits (635, record is 678 in 1997) and the third most strikeouts (596, had 627 in 2018 and 603 in 2019) and home runs (79, had 92 in 1964 and 81 in 2017)…has a 5.26 ERA, which is the highest in the majors and is currently the highest in Oakland history (5.22 in 1980)…has the most losses in the majors and the second most innings pitched…is 27-for-52 (51.9%) in save opportunities…has the third fewest saves in the majors and the fifth lowest save percentage…has allowed 107-of-272 (39.3%) inherited runners to score, which is the third highest percentage…has the third most inherited runners.

ON THE BASES: The A’s are 140-for-168 (83.3%) in stolen base attempts…the stolen bases are second most by an A’s team over the last 30 years (156 in 2010) and the only time in Athletics history the A’s had a stolen base percentage above 81.5 was in 2020 (89.7%)…rank fifth in the majors in stolen base percentage and sixth in steals and attempts…A’s opponents are 107-for155 (69.0%) in stolen base attempts, which is the lowest success rate in the majors…the 48 caught stealings are the most…A’s pitchers have 16 pickoffs, which is tied for second most.

HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 0-7 on their final homestand of the season, a season-long tying 10-game stand against San Diego (0-3), Seattle (0-3) and Detroit (0-1)…the seven-game home losing streak is the A’s second longest of the season (9, April 5-29)…are 24-54 (.308) at home and will finish with the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…the 54 losses are an Oakland record and one short of the franchise record (55 in 1956 and 1964)… have a 5.05 ERA (402 er in 716.0 ip) at home, which is second highest in the majors and third highest in Oakland history (5.57 in 1997, 5.12 in 1996, 4.55 in 2022)…have allowed 96 home runs, which is tied for third most in Oakland history (102 in 1996, 99 in 2017)…are batting .215 (540-for-2509), which is the lowest in the majors and second lowest in Oakland history (.209 in 2022, .225 in 1979)…leave following the game Sunday for the final road trip of the season, a six-game trip to Minnesota (three games) and Los Angeles-AL (three games)…went 3-3 on the last road trip to Texas (1-2) and Houston (2-1) and are 22-53 (.293) on the road, which is the third worst road record in the majors…the 53 road losses are second most in Oakland history (58 in 1979).

PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have tied the Major League record for most starting pitchers in a season (24, also 1915 Philadelphia A’s)…have set an Athletics record with 41 pitchers, which is one short of the Major League record of 42 (2019 Mariners, 2021 Mets, 2021 Orioles, 2022 Cubs)…have also used 36 relievers, which is an Athletics record and two short of the Major League record (38 by the 2021 Orioles)…have employed 62 players, which is second most in Athletics history (64 in 2022), and used 22 rookies, which is second most in Oakland history (34)…lead the majors in most pitchers this year and rank third in players (Reds 65, Angels 64).

A’S VS. TIGERS

• The season series is even at two games each as the A’s lost the first game in Oakland last night after winning two of three in Detroit in early July.
• Won the season series last year 5-2 and have won each of the previous five season series.
• Are 31-7 (.816) against the Tigers dating back to 2017, which includes 12-4 at the Coliseum and 19-3 at Comerica Park.
• Are 53-31 (.631) all-time at Comerica Park, which is the best winning percentage by any team.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (3-8, 5.40 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Has spent the entire season with the A’s and is 3-8 with a 5.40 ERA and .846 opponents OPS in 33 games, including 20 starts…allowed six runs in his last outing (4.0 ip) after allowing just one run over his previous three appearances (16.0 ip)…is 1-1 with a 3.02 ERA (14 er in 41.2 ip) over his last eight games dating back to Aug. 7.

APRIL AND MAY, AND THE REST: Went 1-4 with a 7.46 ERA and 1.012 opponents OPS in 12 games, including 10 starts in April and May…is 2-4 with a
4.08 ERA (36 er in 79.1 ip) and .726 opponents OPS in 21 games, including 11 starts, since then…had an ERA above 7.00 in each of the first two months (7.26 in April, 7.78 in May) and under 5.00 in the last four (4.60 in June, 4.91 in July, 3.68 in August, 3.38 in September).

RANKINGS: Ranks sixth among Major League rookies in strikeouts (122) and innings pitched (130.0)…the strikeouts are ninth most in Oakland history by a rookie (123 would tie Kaprielian for eighth, 124 would tie Manaea and Straily for sixth, 132 would tie Hudson for fifth)…ranks second in the majors among rookies in most walks (68), tied for second in most home runs (22), third in most runs (86) and most hits (138) and tied for fifth in most losses (8)…the 68 walks are ninth most among all pitchers…among all pitchers with 130 or more innings, he has the second highest opponents on-base percentage in the majors (.364), fifth highest OPS (.846), ninth highest ERA (5.40) and 10th highest slugging percentage (.482).

STARTING, RELIEVING AND OPENING: Is 1-4 with a 5.38 ERA (55 er in 92.0 ip) and .892 opponents OPS in 20 starts compared to 2-4 with a 5.45 ERA (23 er in 38.0 ip) and .732 OPS in 13 relief appearances…has made 18 traditional starts and also has two starts as an opener (May 28, June 20)…has tossed at least two innings in 10 of his 13 relief appearances, including 4.0 or more four times…began the season in the starting rotation and made nine starts through May 19…has relieved, relieved openers, opened and started in his 24 games since then.

DECISIONS: Has a no decision in each of his last six starts (all traditional starts), which ties the Athletics record for consecutive no decisions by a starter (excluding openers)…it is the sixth time it has happened, most recently by Jarrod Parker from June 23-July 28, 2013…now has 15 no decisions as a starter for the season, which is tied for fourth most in the majors…it ties the Athletics record for most no decisions by a starting pitcher in a season…shares the mark with Ron Darling, who went 5-9 in 29 starts in 1993…has left with the lead and was in position to win in five of his no decisions.

OPPONENTS BATTING: Has a .257 (26-for-101) opponents batting average against left-handed hitters and .277 (112-for-405) against right-handers…
however, has a .922 OPS against lefties and .827 against righties…16 of the 26 hits he has allowed to lefties are for extra bases (nine doubles, one triple, six home runs)…14 of the 22 home runs he has allowed have been solo shots… opponents are 2-for-17 (.118) with a double, home run and four walks with the bases loaded.

HOME AND AWAY: Is 0-3 with a 4.60 ERA (31 er in 60.2 ip) in 15 games at home compared to 3-5 with a 6.10 ERA (47 er in 69.1 ip) in 18 games in the road…is now 2-4 with a 4.38 ERA (38 er in 78.0 ip) in 18 career games in the Coliseum, 3-6 with a 6.13 ERA (51 er in 86.2 ip) and .868 OPS in 22 games on the road.

NIGHT AND DAY: Is 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA (31 er in 39.0 ip) and .956 opponents OPS in 13 day games, 3-4 with a 4.65 ERA (47 er in 91.0 ip) and .794 OPS in 20 games at night.

EARLY AND LATE: Has a 3.21 ERA (22 er in 61.2 ip) and .731 opponents OPS over innings 1-3, a 7.38 ERA (56 er in 68.1 ip) and .936 OPS from the fourth inning on…as a starter, he has a .235 (35-for-149) opponents batting average and .798 OPS the first time through the order, .271 (36-for-133) with a .906 OPS the second time and .346 (27-for-78) with a 1.049 OPS the third time.

2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Began the season in the A’s starting rotation and went 1-4 with a 6.85 ERA in nine starts through May 19 before splitting his duties between the pen, the rotation and opening…tossed a season-high 6.1 innings April 12 at Baltimore but had a no decision in the A’s 8-4 win…left with a 4-2 lead but Familia blew the save…it was the first of five times he left with the lead in position to win only to have the bullpen blow the save (April 12, 24 and 30; August 7 and 13)…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in his fourth start on April 18 at Chicago (NL) but had a no decision as the A’s were shutout 4-0…struck out a season-high seven batters in 5.2 innings on April 30 against Cincinnati…finished April 0-2 with a 7.26 ERA and .976 opponents OPS in six starts… had the highest opponents OPS (.976) and slugging percentage (.598) in the majors in April, the fourth highest on-base percentage (.378) and the fifth highest ERA and batting average (.307)…the ERA was the highest April ERA in Athletics history among pitchers with 30 or more innings…allowed 10 home runs, which were the most in the majors and matched Gil Heredia (2001) for the most home runs in April in Athletics history…then went 1-2 with a 7.78 ERA and 1.062 OPS in six games in May…was moved out of the starting rotation after allowing four runs on five hits and five walks in 5.0 innings in a 5-1 loss at Houston on May 19…took the loss in his first relief appearance on May 24 at Seattle…struck out a season-high tying seven batters in 2.2 innings but allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks…made his first start as an opener on May 28 against Houston (1.0 ip, 1 h, 1 r, 1 er, 2 so)…earned the first save of his career on June 12 against Tampa Bay when he tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in the A’s 4-3 win…became the first A’s pitcher to toss three or more scoreless innings for the save in a one-run game since Elias Sosa on May 2, 1978…made his second start as an opener on June 20 at Cleveland (1.2 ip, 2 h, 2 so)…went 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA, .203 opponents batting average and .678 OPS in five games, including two starts, in July…struck out a season-high tying seven batters on Aug. 7 vs. Texas and did it again two starts later in a no decision against Baltimore on Aug. 19…tossed 6.0 scoreless innings Sept. 5 against Toronto but had his sixth straight no decision in the A’s 7-1 loss…tossed 6.0 scoreless and hitless innings of relief in the A’s 4-0 win at Houston Sept. 11… that matched the most hitless innings pitched by a reliever in Athletics history (Rube Vickers, 1908; Eddie Rommel, 1923; Dennis Eckersley, 1987).

LAST APPEARANCE: He was the losing pitcher in relief last Sunday in the A’s 10-1 loss to San Diego…allowed six runs on a career-high tying nine hits in 4.0 innings…relieved Boyle to start the fourth with the scored tied 0-0 and allowed two runs on RBI singles by Campusano and Rosario to snap his scoreless streak at 12.0 innings…it was the longest single-season scoreless streak of his career and two short of his career high of 14.0 from Sept. 30, 2022-April 2, 2023…also allowed a two-run single to Batten in the sixth and a two-run ome run to Soto in the seventh.