The opener of a three-game series in Sacramento saw a highly anticipated big-league debut which absolutely did not disappoint, and a low-scoring game was blown wide open in the late innings as the Tigers won 13-1.<\/p>\n
Casey Mize was supposed to be the starter but was scratched because (a.) he might be traded, (b.) his speed was noticeably down in his last start, or (c.) all of the above. So it was a good, old-fashioned Bullpen Day and Tyler Holton got things going. He\u2019s not unfamiliar with the role, as he had nine starts during Pitching Chaos\u2122 in 2024.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey Springs got the start for the A\u2019s, and it\u2019s been a rough season for him, especially lately. A month ago he gave up six runs in consecutive starts, and in his previous start he didn\u2019t get out of the second inning. Pitching half his starts at the launching-pad that is Sacramento certainly doesn\u2019t help your stats.<\/p>\n
The Athletics got on the board in the bottom of the first: Jacob Wilson walked with one out, and a Jonah Heim double clanked off a diving Riley Greene\u2019s glove in left-centre to score Wilson and put the home team up 1-0, but that was all they\u2019d get, as it turned out.<\/p>\n
In the top of the second, Spencer Torkelson singled with one out to bring up Max Clark for the first time in the major leagues. On a full count he took a high four-seam fastball for ball four, putting two runners on for Javier B\u00e1ez\u2026 who grounded into an inning-ending double play.<\/p>\n
Henry Bolte, who is the fastest guy in the major leagues, got plunked with one out in the bottom of the second. Dillon Dingler had something to say about him trying to steal a base.<\/p>\n
Kevin McGonigle opened the Tigers\u2019 scoring with a solo home run in the third.<\/p>\n
Gleyber Torres walked and Dingler followed with a soft single; a Riley Greene groundout acted like a bunt to push the runners up a base. But Hao-Yu Lee grounded out to short and that was that.<\/p>\n
Ty Madden took over for Holton to start the bottom of the third. A pair of walks put two runners on with two out, but Tyler Soderstrom grounded out to second to end the mini-threat.<\/p>\n
ClarkWatch 2026 continued in the top of the fourth: Torkelson worked a leadoff walk, and Clark served an opposite-field single into shallow left field for his first major-league hit. A lineout by B\u00e1ez pushed Torkelson up to third, and Ben Malgeri walked to load the bases. McGonigle hit a shallow fly ball to right and Torkelson managed to beat the throw home for a 2-1 Tigers lead.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Madden settled down and sprinkled a couple of hits here-and-there but nothing the A\u2019s were doing looked vaguely threatening. Drew Sommers took over to start the sixth and he needed all of seven pitches to dispatch the A\u2019s on a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. He also sailed through the seventh: a strikeout, groundout and foul popup to Dingler took eight pitches.<\/p>\n
The game was still a tight, low-scoring affair entering the eighth \u2014 an unusual occurrence in Sacramento \u2014 and pinch-hitter Eduardo Valencia led off the inning with a sharp single. He was lifted for a pinch-runner, Zack McKinstry, who moved over to third on a Torkelson single to put runners on the corners. Clark came up and smacked a double off the wall in left field to score McKinstry, putting the Tigers up 3-1.<\/p>\n
B\u00e1ez snuck another single just over an infielder\u2019s head to score Torkelson and move Clark up to third for a 4-1 score. A hard grounder to third by Malgeri was too hot to handle, and Clark aggressively scooted home for a 5-1 lead; smartly, Clark ran home a couple of feet on the infield side of the third base line to make any possible third-to-home throw that much harder. McGonigle walked to load the bases with none out; Torres hit a hard liner to shortstop for the first out, but Dingler rocketed a grand slam to straightaway centre for a 9-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Enmanuel De Jesus, who was just recalled from Toledo, was brought in for the bottom of the eighth. He gave up a couple of very hard-hit outs but ultimately he put up a zero for the inning.<\/p>\n
Clark continued his fine debut in the top of the ninth with another double, pushing Torkelson up to third, who\u2019d led off with a single. Both runners scored on a B\u00e1ez single for a 11-1 lead, and he came around to score on Malgeri\u2019s first major-league home run for a 13-1 score.<\/p>\n
De Jesus closed out the ninth \u2014 again, some hard contact in there \u2014 and the Max Clark Experience was officially in the books. Can we keep him?<\/p>\n