Nationals top Tigers 4-2 as Valdez's strong start goes to waste
The short version
- Tigers lost 4-2 to the Nationals on Sept. 23 at Comerica Park, falling to 74-85.
- Framber Valdez retired the first 11 batters and allowed two runs over 5⅓ innings, ending the season 10-12 with a 4.03 ERA.
- Yohandy Morales hit a two-run homer off Tyler Kinley; Nasim Nuñez added Washington's fourth run.
- Tigers rookies had seven of Detroit's eight hits, including Ben Malgeri's solo homer.
- Detroit hosts Pittsburgh on Friday at 6:40 p.m., with Jackson Jobe starting and Justin Verlander set for Saturday.
Framber Valdez retired the first 11 batters he faced Wednesday, but Detroit's bats stayed quiet in a 4-2 loss to Washington at Comerica Park.
Framber Valdez closed out a rough season with a sharp outing, but the Detroit Tigers could not give him enough support in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday at Comerica Park. Detroit fell to 74-85 while Washington improved to 75-84 in the final game of the Tigers' second-to-last series of the year.
Valdez set down the first 11 hitters he faced, mixing six strikeouts with four groundouts and a popout before Brady House singled with two outs in the fourth. The lefty allowed two runs on four hits over 5⅓ innings, leaving after an RBI single by CJ Abrams put Washington ahead 1-0 in the sixth. Valdez finishes the year 10-12 with a 4.03 ERA after allowing five earned runs across 23⅓ innings over four September starts.
Reliever Tyler Kinley took over and gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Yohandy Morales that made it 3-0. Washington added a run in the seventh when Nasim Nuñez singled, stole second and third, and scored on a James Wood groundout.
Detroit's rookies supplied nearly all the offense, collecting seven of the team's eight hits. Ben Malgeri hit a solo homer in the sixth — his fifth of the season and second in three games — and drove in another run with a ninth-inning single, but Riley Greene flew out to end the game with the tying runs on base. Kevin McGonigle, who leads MLB rookies in hits, walks and FanGraphs WAR, doubled and added two singles.
The Tigers are off Thursday before opening a season-ending three-game series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday at 6:40 p.m., with Jackson Jobe scheduled to start. Justin Verlander is set to pitch Saturday.
