Tigers' five-game winning streak ends with 7-3 loss to Rays

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Jul 9, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Everything matters.

That belief is so central to the Tigers’ way of life, they put it on a T-shirt. Little things add up to big results.

Positive and negative.

In the sixth inning Wednesday, center fielder Parker Meadows either didn’t read the ball well off the bat or took a bad angle on it — either way, the result of that small detail changed the course of the game.

Ha-Seong Kim’s two-out, 385-foot drive in the sixth inning got over Meadows’ head, plated the tying run and triggered a four-run outburst that sent the Tampa Bay Rays on to a 7-3 win in the series finale at Comerica Park, ending the Tigers’ five-game win streak.

The damage came off right-hander Chase Lee who ended up facing six batters and allowing four runs and five hits.

Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch used Brant Hurter to start the sixth, protecting a 3-2 lead. The Rays had two left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter due up, followed by two right-handed hitters and a switch-hitter.

Lee, in his previous 11 outings covering 13 innings, had allowed two earned runs.

Hurter left with two outs and a runner at second. Nothing went well after that.

Kim hit a line drive to center. Meadows’ first two steps were to his left and he couldn’t recover in time to catch up to the ball.

After the double the floodgates opened. Taylor Walls singled, Danny Jansen doubled off the wall in left and Yandy Diaz singled before Lee got out of the inning.

Hinch kept him in to start the seventh, presumably only to face righty Junior Caminero. Caminero, named to the American League All-Star team as a reserve, swatted a 398-foot homer to left.

The Tigers rallied out of an early 2-0 hole with three runs in the fourth against Rays right-handed starter Zack Littell.

Gleyber Torres started the rally with a double, extending his on-base streak to 22 games. He scored on a single by Spencer Torkelson. Zach McKinstry, announced as a replacement player in the All-Star Game during the first inning, rapped the first of his two doubles to score the tying run.

The third run came home on a ground out by Meadows.

Tigers starter Reese Olson labored but he got through five innings but still left the game with a lead.

The Rays nicked him for two runs in a 28-pitch first inning. After a double by Jonathan Aranda and a single by Caminero, one run scored on a ground out by Josh Lowe and the other on a single by Jake Mangum.

The Rays had traffic in every inning but Olson kept home plate clean after the first. He got a 3-6 double-play to end the third inning, a smart play by Torkelson to step on first and then throw to second.

He stranded a runner at third in the fourth and in the fifth, after issuing two walks, he induced a 6-4-3 double-play from Caminero.

Olson scattered six hits with two walks and only one strikeout.

The Rays banged out 16 hits in the game.

This is a developing story. Come back soon for more on today's 7-3 loss to the Rays.

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