WILX/DETROIT, Mich. Opening Day is a legendary day in Major League Baseball, and it happened on Friday afternoon for the Detroit Tigers. The home opener at Comerica Park pitted the 5-1 Tigers against the 1-6 Oakland A’s. In the pregame ritual, Penei Sewell, an offensive lineman for the Detroit Lions, threw out the first pitch.
Opening Day pitcher Penei Sewell of the Detroit Lions Pro Bowl outfielded the first pitch with a strikeout.
Tarik Skubal, the opening pitcher for Detroit, had a great outing off the bat, pitching four scoreless innings. Before OF came up, JP Sears was pitching a no-hitter into the bottom of the fourth. Tigers lead 1-0 thanks to a single shot to left field from Matt Vierling.
A few batters later, Spencer Torkelson added another run when he doubled down the left side to score Andy Ibanez from second, making the score 2-0 for the Tigers. Riley Greene quickly made an RBI single to bring home Torkelson from second base with a shot through to opposite field. In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers were up 3-0 and the Sears had managed to get no outs.
After Oakland ended the inning, the score stayed 3-0 until the top of the sixth, when Brent Rooker of Oakland hit a two-run home run to left off Skubal, making it 3-2 and keeping the Tigers ahead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mark Canha of Detroit absolutely crushes a solo shot to left field to add to the run and increase Detroit’s lead to 4-2. Gio Urshela, the next batter, doubles to the left centerfield gap to end Sears’ inning.
Skubal remained on the mound in the top of the seventh. After getting into a jam, Abraham Toro hit a solo shot to trim Detroit’s lead to 4-3. After that, J.J. Bleday moved, and Skubal was removed. Will Vest acquired brought in, and a Nick Allen groundout drove in Bleday to tie the game at four apiece
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with two runners on base for the Tigers, T.J. McFarland got Kerry Carpenter to roll into a double play, ending the inning. That advanced the game to the eighth inning deadlocked at four.
Spencer Torkelson doubled to start the eighth inning, and Lucas Erceg entered for Oakland with the score tied. Before the ninth inning, Detroit had a 5-4 lead when Gio Urshela drove in Torkelson with a double down the right field line.
With one run in hand, Andrew Chafin entered the game to finish it off. Chafin got two outs and was pulled after allowing two runners to reach base. In to make the last out, Alex Lange completed the save with just one out. Opening Day ends with a 5-4 triumph for the Tigers.
Game two of the series will resume tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. for Detroit.
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