PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The
Detroit Tigers lost 4-1 against the
Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park on Tuesday. Detroit is 4-6 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
Right-hander
Kenta Maeda had Yandy Díaz, the American League batting champion in 2023 who rarely swings and misses, in a full count in the first inning. Díaz, the leadoff hitter, checked his swing on a slider, but he went too far. It was Maeda's first of five strikeouts. "I'm very pleased with the outing today," Maeda said in Japanese, interpreted by
Daichi Sekizaki. "If I could do something better, just the counts — getting into three-ball counts. ... From what I saw on the mound, I was getting a lot of whiffs, which is good. That's very encouraging." Díaz had an elite 14.2% whiff rate in the 2024 season, ranking in the 97th percentile as he missed on approximately 14 of every 100 swings, but he whiffed on the slider Maeda threw him in a full count for the first out in the first inning.
Starting off
Maeda completed 3⅔ scoreless innings. He threw 55 pitches. Facing the Rays, Maeda struck out Díaz, Junior Caminero, Taylor Walls, Kameron Misner and Matthew Etzel. His fastball sat around 91-92 mph, and his secondary pitches induced plenty of funky swings. In the second inning, Maeda struck out Caminero swinging with a 92.4 mph fastball in a full count, winning a seven-pitch battle. His fastball velocity, however, dipped in the fourth inning after he surpassed 45 pitches. He threw four fastballs in fourth, registering 90.8 mph, 90.6 mph, 90.3 mph and 90.5 mph.
At the plate
The Tigers scored their lone run in the fourth inning. The inning began when Colt Keith hit a single through the right side of the infield against left-hander Ian Seymour. Moments later, the Tigers had two runners in scoring position after Bligh Madris — who finished 2-for-2 with one walk in three trips to the plate — drilled a double to left field. Ryan Kreidler, who started in center field, drove in Keith on a sacrifice fly to left field. The RBI from Kreidler put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
On the mound
After Maeda, the Tigers used three pitchers who signed minor league contracts: left-hander Dietrich Enns, right-hander Ryan Miller and righty Jordan Balazovic. Meanwhile, right-hander Chase Lee — a member of the 40-man roster — tossed the seventh inning. Lee surrendered a two-run home run to Etzel. The Rays took the lead from the Tigers with Enns on the mound in the fifth, but on the two-run homer the seventh, the Rays extended their lead to 4-1.
Contact Evan Petzold at or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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