When your ace goes down, the whole ship starts to take on water. That's exactly what happened to the Detroit Tigers when Tarik Skubal was sidelined with an elbow injury on May 4. The starting rotation, which had been the team's backbone, suddenly became its biggest weakness—posting a staggering 6.86 ERA over the next seven games.
Those outings were short and painful. Starters averaged just 2.81 innings per game and walked six batters total, leaving the bullpen exposed and the offense with little chance to build momentum. The result? One win in seven tries.
Enter Framber Valdez, the newly reinstated left-hander who was called upon to stop the bleeding. Returning from a five-game suspension for hitting Boston's Trevor Story, Valdez knew the Tigers needed a lift—especially with Casey Mize and Justin Verlander also on the injured list.
And he delivered. On Wednesday at Citi Field, Valdez gave Detroit exactly what they'd been missing: a quality start. Over 6.2 innings, he allowed just two earned runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking only two. He threw a season-high 106 pitches and forced 10 ground balls from the first 22 batters he faced, staying ahead in counts with his signature sinker.
But baseball is a game of inches—and sometimes, one pitch. With two outs in the sixth inning and a 2-1 lead, Valdez was pulled. The bullpen couldn't hold it, and the New York Mets rallied to tie the game. In the 10th inning, rookie A.J. Ewing scored the winning run, handing the Tigers a heartbreaking 3-2 loss.
The Mets had already taken Game 1 of the series, 10-2, taking advantage of Jack Flaherty's wildness and Ewing's historic MLB debut. Flaherty, the Tigers' No. 3 starter, struggled through a 36-pitch second inning and failed to make it past the fourth—a trend that's now plagued him in four of his last five starts.
For Valdez, it was a valiant effort in a season that's tested Detroit's depth. But the Tigers fell to an MLB-worst 7-18 on the road, a reminder that sometimes even a strong start isn't enough to turn the tide.