Recap: Tigers escape with 5-4 win over A's in home opener

With Gio Urshela's two-out, RBI double that drove in the go-ahead run and Alex Lange's game-ending strikeout with runners on first and second, the Tigers gave their home fans something to cheer about Friday with a 5-4 victory against the Oakland A's in their home opener at Comerica Park.

It was a back-and-forth game that didn't look like it if someone had watched the first five innings. The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Matt Vierling's solo homer, followed by Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene's back-to-back RBI hits. On the mound, Tarik Skubal gave up only one hit and one walk in those five innings. It fell apart in the sixth, with Skubal giving up a two-out, two-run homer to Brent Rooker to make it a 3-2 lead for the Tigers.

Mark Canha extended the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer that went 414 feet to left field, but the A's answered back on Skubal in the seventh with two more runs to tie the game. Skubal finished with nine strikeouts but gave up four runs in his final 1⅓ innings pitched.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, Torkelson doubled and Urshela hit the double two batters later to bring Torkelson home, breaking the tie. The Tigers' relievers didn't allow another run and Lange struck out the final batter to seal the win.

The Tigers start 6-1 for their best start since 2015, with the team running on short fumes from playing a doubleheader against the New York Mets on Thursday. They have two more games against Oakland and a short two-game series on the road against Pittsburgh before their first day off in almost a week.

Tigers 5, A's 4

Top 9th

Andrew Chafin comes in and hopes to end this game for the Tigers. He walks Toro first, then strikes out Bleday on a low slider. Noda works Chafin to a full-count, then Chafin misses inside for a walk as the A's have runners on both first and second. Chafin gets a mound visit as Alex Lange is warming up in the bullpen. Allen swings at a slider and pops out to Baez, as Lange will head to the mound to get the final out. On a 1-2 count, Lange gets Gelof to swing and miss on a curveball for the final out. Tigers leave Opening Day at Comerica Park with a big win.

Bottom 8th

With two outs, Colt Keith comes in for Rogers and Erceg intentionally walks him to bring Baez up to bat. Baez goes at a 1-2 low slider and flies out to center field, but now the Tigers are three outs away from an Opening Day victory.

Urshela's double puts Tigers back on top

With Lucas Erceg on the mound for the A's, Torkelson rips his second double of the day as Brown can't field the ball cleanly down the left field line. Erceg gets Greense to swing and miss on a low changeup for the first out, then Canha is called for a strikeout on a pitch that didn't seem in the zone. Urshela makes it up with a big two-out double that falls out of the reach of Rooker to bring Torkelson home.

Top 8th

Jason Foley comes in for Will Vest, and hits the corner of the strike-zone for the first strikeout on Rooker. He gets another strikeout in four pitches on Langeliers, as Seth Brown pinch-hits for Tyler Nevin. Brown swings on a low sinker for the final out.

Bottom 7th

Dany Jimenez comes to the mound for the A's. Baez gets a slider to hit, but misses it and flies out to left field. Meadows draws a six-pitch walk, then Vierling also gets to walking as Kerry Carpenter pinch-hits for Ibanez. Carpenter hits it right to Jimenez for the double-play as we are still tied into the eighth inning.

Top 7th

Gelof works another full count for the A's as Oakland now has runners on first and third. Vest gets out the jam with a strikeout on a slider, but the A's have tied the game and now the Tigers offense has to respond again.

Skubal is pulled, A's tie game in 7th

Bleday works Skubal to a 3-2 count, then draws the walk on an inside pitch as A.J. Hinch finally pulls Skubal out. Skubal walks back to the dugout frustrated, pitching a near-perfect game before giving up three runs and two home runs in his final two innings of action. Will Vest comes in with one out and a runner at first, and gives up a double to pinch-hitter Ryan Noda as Bleday moves to third. Allen grounds out to first but no play is made home as Bleday scores to tie the game.

Toto goes deep, A's pull within a run

Skubal stays in for the seventh inning, as Nevin flies out to Vierling near the warning track. Toto takes a fastball deep to left field for another home run, as the A's yet again make it a one-run game.

Bottom 6th

Urshela hits a loud ball into left-center field for a double, as that'll be the end of Sears day after giving up four runs on six hits with only one strikeout. Austin Adams comes in for relief with Urshela still on second base with two outs. Adams' second slider is a wild pitch that allows Urshela to move to third, but Rogers swings on a 3-2 slider for the final out.

Canha homers, Tigers take 4-2 lead

Torkelson pulls another deep ball left and into foul territory (there's been a lot of those today) before swinging late on a high fastball for a pop-out. Greene also swings late on a 1-2 fastball for a fly-out to left field, but this time Canha makes sure the ball stays fair on a first-pitch fastball right down the middle for a home run.

Top 6th

Langeliers almost ties it up but the long ball just goes left of the foul pole in left field, as Skubal bounces back with a strikeout for the final out of the inning. Tigers now holding on to a one-run lead.

Rooker's two-run homer cuts it to 3-2

Skubal forces the groundout on Allen, but then Gelof gets a double down the left field line. Davis strikes out swinging, but Rooker hits a first-pitch slider deep two-out homer off on Skubal to make it a one-run game for the A's.

Bottom 5th

Meadows tries to catch Sears with a first-pitch bunt, but the pitcher gets the ball to first base for the first out. Vierling flies out to left field and Ibanez flies out to center field for a quick bottom of the fifth.

Top 5th

Skubal looks off for the first time today as Nevin draws a four-pitch walk, the first of the year for Skubal. Toro flies out to Greene for the first out, then gets Bleday to hit a grounder to force Nevin out at second but the Tigers can't turn the double play as Bleday gets to first. No worries, as Skubal gets Hernaiz to strikeout on a slider to keep the A's scoreless.

Bottom 4th

Canha comes back up with Greene sitting on first base, and turns on a pitch that dies near the warning track to Tyler Nevin for the first out. Urshela's up again and hits one foul into deep left field before flying-out to center field for the second out. Rogers gets to a 3-2 count and draws the first walk of the game. Baez comes up with Greene at second and Rogers at first, but grounds-out for the final out.

Greene keeps it going, Tigers take 3-0 lead

Greene goes down 0-2 early on his second at-bat of the game, but works the count to 3-2 before getting a hit in-between the shortstop and third baseman to bring Torkelson home. Tigers now up 3-0 and still no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Ibanez, Torkelson hit back-to-back doubles

Ibanez keeps it up, as he hits a fair ball down the third-base line and forces a wild throw to first, moving to second for another prime scoring opportunity. Torkelson goes foul on an almost-homer, but hits a sharp double to left field that brings Ibanez home for another run with no outs.

Vierling goes deep, Tigers up 1-0

Matt Vierling must've took the blog's advice, as he takes a fastball 358 feet deep into left-field for the first run of the game. Tigers take a 1-0 lead.

Top 4th

Skubal is in control at the mound today. He gets Davis to groundout on the first pitch of the inning, then strikes-out Rooker and Langeliers to make it six strike-outs so far in four innings. He's done well on the mound, but the Tigers need to find their offense.

Bottom 3rd

Sun's starting to come out, but the Tigers' offense can't catch a break at Jake Rogers hits a hard ball right to Nick Allen for the first out. Javier Baez makes contact with a low pitch on an 0-2 count and grounds-out, then Parker Meadows strikes-out as the Tigers are still scoreless after three innings.

Top 3rd

Darell Hernaiz hits a chopper right to Ibanez for the first out, then Nick Allen lines out as Matt Vierling catches another out at right field. Gelof comes up for his second at-bat and strikes-out to a low changeup as Skubal keeps rolling.

Bottom 2nd

Riley Greene comes up for his first at-bat of the day, and swings at a low pitch that goes right to JJ Bleday at center field for the first out. Mark Cahna gets hit in the elbow on a 3-2 pitch and heads to first. Gio Urshela grounds-out into a double play as Sears keeps the Tigers scoreless.

Top 2nd

Skubal's back on the mound as Tyler Nevin hits a fly-out to Matt Vierling for the first out, then Abraham Toro strikes out to a 99 mph fastball. JJ Bleday doesn't do much better, as Skubal gets him to look at a slider that hits the bottom corner of the strike zone for Skubal's third strikeout so far.

Bottom 1st

Matt Vierling leads off for the Tigers against Sears, but hits a line-out. Then Andy Ibanez lines-out to the infield for a one-pitch out. Spencer Torkelson works to a 3-2 count, but hits a pop-out as the first inning goes without a score.

Top 1st

And here we go, Opening Day has started. Skubal gets the first two batters in Zack Gelof and J.D. Davis to groundout, but Brent Rooker gets the two-out single to drop for the first hit of the day. No worries, as Skubal gets Shea Langeliers to strikeout on a high fastball, now it's time for the Tigers offense to make their first appearance today.

Ceremonial first pitch

Detroit Lions All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell throws the ceremonial first pitch, and it's a pretty good one. A little out of the strike zone, but we've seen worse. Now it's time to play ball, as Tarik Skubal makes his second start of the season for the Tigers while JP Sears starts for the A's.

Pregame

Off to their best start in almost a decade, the Tigers hope to keep the momentum going when they play at Comerica Park for the first time in 2024 and open a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

The Tigers went into Thursday's doubleheader against the New York Mets as MLB's final undefeated team at 4-0, but the second game ended in a 2-1 walk-off loss. The Tigers (5-1) will play a game for the next five days, which will make it seven games in six days for Detroit.

Offseason additions Carson Kelly, Gio Urshela and Mark Canha have helped Detroit get off to this strong start. Urshela leads the team in hits and batting average, while Kelly and Canha are among the five Tigers who have hit a home run so far. Kelly also leads the Tigers with five RBIs while only playing four games.

The Tigers aren't the only ones who have a new look, as Comerica Park underwent some offseason upgrades, including an update to the videoboard. Opening Day will also have some festivities, such as the Detroit Lions All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell throwing the ceremonial first pitch.

Follow along here for live updates from Detroit News contributor Kameron Goodwill.

Tigers vs. A's

▶ First pitch: 1:10 p.m. Friday, Comerica Park, Detroit

▶ TV/radio: Fox, BSD/97.1

▶ Starting pitchers: Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (1-0, 0.00) vs. A's LHP JP Sears (0-1, 12.27)