The Detroit Tigers finished a three-game sweep of the Athletics with a 4-1 win at Comerica Park on Thursday, their fifth straight victory, behind seven more disciplined innings from Framber Valdez — whose line got its own writeup here — and the story of this streak is the same every night: the pitching will not let anyone score.
Valdez allowed three hits and one run over seven, striking out nine without a walk, before Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen closed it out, Jansen collecting the save. The offense needed only three swings: Zach McKinstry hit a two-run homer, and Eduardo Valencia and Jake Rogers added solo shots off the bench and the bottom of the order. That was the whole game, and it was enough, because a one-run night from the Athletics never threatened.
Stretch the lens across the five wins — 3-0 and 6-3 in Texas, then 6-2, 6-1 and 4-1 at home — and Detroit’s staff has allowed seven runs in five games. Tarik Skubal gave up one earned run in the series opener, Troy Melton threw 5.1 scoreless with nine strikeouts in the middle game, and Valdez closed the set without walking a batter. Now the blunt part: this team is still 43-50, seven games under .500, because April and May happened. A five-game streak doesn’t erase that; it buys back credibility one series at a time. At 8-2 over their last ten, the Tigers have trimmed the wild-card gap to 3.5 games, and a weekend set against Philadelphia at Comerica will say a lot more about this rotation than the Athletics did.
On the fantasy side, Valdez’s zero-walk, nine-strikeout night is the profile that plays anywhere, and he should be started with confidence in all formats next week. Melton is the add: his 5.1 scoreless innings Wednesday came with nine strikeouts, and he remains available in most leagues while this rotation is handing every starter a clean bullpen bridge behind him.
