Detroit Tigers waste two home runs in 3-2 loss to Dodgers on Max Muncy's walk-off single

Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson, serving as an opener, struck out Matt Vierling and Andy Ibáñez to begin Tuesday's game. Then, Ferguson had to face Spencer Torkelson.

The result: Torkelson's 29th home run.

Home runs from Torkelson and Parker Meadows, two of the youngest players on the roster, weren't enough for the Detroit Tigers, though, in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The game ended on a walk-off single from Max Muncy against right-handed reliever Alex Lange in the ninth inning.

"The result is gut-wrenching because we had to navigate a lot," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in Los Angeles. "The way we got there, we need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize we made some mistakes against a really good team, whether it's not covering first base, not turning the double play, or not controlling the stolen base. Those little things against good teams suffocate you."

The Tigers (70-81) squandered the lead — provided by home runs from Torkelson and Meadows — in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Everything changed when Lange inherited a runner on first base with two outs in the eighth. Chris Taylor, pinch-running for J.D. Martinez, stole second base and scored on David Peralta's ground-rule double down the left-field line off Lange's curveball to tie the game at two runs apiece.

"The reality is, he doesn't score from first (base) because the ball bounced out of play," Hinch said. "What really hurt us was giving Taylor second base."

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Lange stayed in the game for the ninth inning.

The game-winning run reached base with Mookie Betts' one-out single. Freddie Freeman lined out to center field for the second out, but Lange hit Will Smith to put runners on first and second.

Muncy ended the game by smacking Lange's curveball into right field. The throw — from right fielder Kerry Carpenter to catcher Jake Rogers — was close to the target but too late to keep Betts from scoring.

Before the meltdown

The first two plate appearances — strikeouts from Vierling and Ibáñez — were forgotten when Torkelson swung at a sixth-pitch cutter from Ferguson in the first inning. The 24-year-old sent the ball 385 feet to left-center field for a solo home run and a 1-0 advantage.

Torkelson has 29 home runs in 148 games this season. He could become the first Tiger to hit 30-plus homers in a single season since Justin Upton in 2017 with the Tigers (125 games) and Los Angeles Angels (27 games). No Tiger 23 or younger has hit 30 since Matt Nokes in 1987.

The Dodgers started Ferguson, a left-handed reliever, as an opener in Tuesday's game. Right-hander Ryan Pepiot covered the next six innings. He allowed one run on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

The one run charged to Pepiot occurred in the third inning, when Meadows put the Tigers ahead, 2-0, by hitting a first-pitch 92.7 mph four-seam fastball for a solo home run. The 23-year-old has struggled against fastballs in September, but he didn't miss Pepiot's heater inside the strike zone.

Meadows drove the ball 387 feet to center field.

The Tigers finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Meadows (in the fifth inning), Carpenter (in the sixth) and Vierling (in the seventh) each stranded runners in scoring position with two outs.

No. 16

Miguel Cabrera singled off Pepiot's seventh-pitch changeup to start the seventh inning.

The single marked the 3,167th hit of Cabrera's 21-year MLB career.

That hit pushed Cabrera past former Dodger Adrián Beltré for 16th on MLB's all-time list.

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In 2023, Cabrera has passed Ichiro Suzuki (3,089), Dave Winfield (3,110), Álex Rodríguez (3,115), Tony Gwynn (3,141), Robin Yount (3,142), Paul Waner (3,152), George Brett (3,154) and Beltré (3,166). He is 18 hits away from taking down Cal Ripken Jr., with 11 games remaining.

The 40-year-old is hitting .258 (79-for-306) across 90 games in his final season.

The single from Cabrera sparked a scoring opportunity, but the Tigers came up empty when Zack Short bunted into a fielder's choice out with runners on the corners with no outs.

Pepiot, the pitcher, fielded the ball and threw to Smith, the catcher, at home plate. Akil Baddoo, who replaced Cabrera as a pinch-runner, was tagged out at home plate. Baddoo wasn't close to scoring on the safety squeeze bunt.

"We're trying to get any runs we can with where we're at in the order," Hinch said. "Shorty took the first pitch and then bunted it right back to the pitcher. A little bit of a tough read, and we didn't get the play at home. ... No outs, he doesn't have to go."

The next two batters, Meadows and Vierling, lost seven-pitch battles and flew out to end the top of the seventh.

Bullpen-only

The Tigers used five relief pitchers to complete Tuesday's bullpen-only game: right-hander Miguel Díaz (⅔ innings), left-hander Tyler Holton (3⅓ innings), right-hander Beau Brieske (2⅓ innings), right-hander Jason Foley (1⅓ innings) and Lange.

Holton replaced Díaz with the bases loaded in the first inning and stranded the runners. He sent down all three batters in the second inning and three of four batters in the third inning.

The Dodgers finally found the scoreboard in the fourth inning, as Martinez — who played for the Tigers from 2014-17 — hammered an up-and-in 90.2 mph four-seam fastball for a 402-foot home run to center field.

Martinez's third homer in two games cut the Tigers' lead to 2-1. Otherwise, Holton was electric for the Tigers in his longest outing of the season. He threw 31 of 43 pitches for strikes.

One of the biggest moments in the game took place when the Dodgers had runners on first and second base with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Foley weaponized his sinker to get Freeman — hitting .336 with 26 home runs in 149 games — to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers waste two HRs in 3-2 loss to Dodgers on walk-off single