Tigers Stat of the Day: June 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Tigers this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Tigers Stat of the Day, May 2021

June 30: Tigers 9, Indians 4 (Game 1) and Tigers 7, Indians 1 (Game 2) -- Hammerin' Haase
Former Cleveland catcher Eric Haase's first home run at Progressive Field came as a member of the Tigers in the nightcap -- a Statcast-projected 442-foot drive into the left-field bleachers. The 113.2 mph exit velocity was the fifth-hardest ball in play by a Detroit hitter this year, and the hardest-hit ball by a Tiger since Jonathan Schoop on May 31 at Milwaukee.

June 28: Indians 13, Tigers 5 -- Make room for Miggy
Miguel Cabrera's second-inning solo homer made little difference on the scoreboard Monday night, but it was a big blast on MLB's all-time leaderboard. Cabrera's 493rd career home run tied him with Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 28th on the Major League list. Cabrera has hit 49 homers against Cleveland, his most against any opponent. Indians starter Eli Morgan, meanwhile, became the 350th big league pitcher to give up a home run to Cabrera.

June 27: Tigers 2, Astros 1 -- Grossman walks it off
Robbie Grossman's safety squeeze sent Akil Baddoo barreling home with a head-first slide in the 10th inning to earn Detroit a series split with Houston. It was Grossman's fourth career walk-off knock and his third of the season. It marked just the fourth walk-off squeeze bunt for the Tigers since 1916, and first since 1973. The last time a Major Leaguer bunted for a walk-off hit was Sept. 10, 2018, when Alcides Escobar laid one down for the Royals against the White Sox.

June 26: Tigers 3, Astros 1 (Game 1) -- Mize stingy with the runs
Casey Mize allowed just one run over six strong innings in the first game of the split doubleheader, marking 11 consecutive starts during which the righty has allowed three or fewer earned runs. In doing so, he became the first Tigers rookie since Dave Rozema in 1977 to hit that mark.

June 24: Astros 12, Tigers 3 -- Daz dazzles with speed
Former Astros Draft pick Daz Cameron turned his first hit against his old organization into an RBI double with some hustle around the basepaths, speeding around first base on his sixth-inning blooper to shallow left field. Cameron reached a sprint speed of 29.9 feet per second, just shy of the elite mark of 30.

June 23: Tigers 6, Cardinals 2 -- Like father, like son
When Tigers rookie Daz Cameron stole second base on Wednesday, he became part of the first father-son duo to steal a base off 38-year-old Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. His dad, Mike Cameron, stole two bases off Molina during the course of his 17-year big league career -- the last of which came on Aug. 27, 2008.

June 22: Tigers 8, Cardinals 2 -- Baddoo's streak
Akil Baddoo went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. He's batting .406 with four doubles and seven runs scored over a nine-game hitting streak, the longest by a Tiger this season.

June 20: Tigers 5, Angels 3 (10 innings) -- Feasting on sliders
Casey Mize gave up three runs over five innings in a no-decision. All three runs scored on home runs, both off sliders that Shohei Ohtani and Jared Walsh hit out. The slider had been a masterful pitch in Mize’s recent run. Opponents were 6-for-41 with two extra-base hits and a 35-percent whiff rate on the pitch since May 5, and he had given up only one home run off of it all season.

June 19: Angels 8, Tigers 3 -- Like father, like son
Daz Cameron's second Major League home run was his first at Angel Stadium, a place his father Mike knew well from his 17-year career. He hit seven home runs at Angel Stadium, despite a .193 career average there.

June 18: Angels 11, Tigers 3 -- Miggy breaks doubles tie
With a double in the sixth inning for No. 586 in his career, Miguel Cabrera took sole possession of 20th place on the all-time list. He was in a tie with Rafael Palmeiro. Cabrera now trails Todd Helton (592) for 19th place.

June 17: Angels 7, Tigers 5 -- A strong debut for Manning
No. 3 prospect Matt Manning made his anticipated debut and threw five innings and allowed just two runs against the Angels. He was the first Tigers rookie pitcher to go at least 5+ innings and allow fewer than two runs since Tyler Alexander did so in his MLB debut with the Tigers on July 3, 2019.

June 16: Tigers 6, Royals 5 -- How sweep it is
The Tigers rallied late, sparked by Willi Castro's tying homer in a big seventh inning, for their first three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium since May 2-4, 2014. It's also their third three-game sweep on the road this year (Houston April 12-14 and Seattle May 17-19), and their fifth series sweep in any park this season. Detroit had just six series sweeps, home or away, from 2018-20 combined, three of them away from Comerica Park.

June 15: Tigers 4, Royals 3 -- Miggy hits 5,000 total bases
Miguel Cabrera's first-inning RBI single and sixth-inning double pushed him to 5,001 total bases for his career. He became the 22nd player in AL or NL history to cross the 5,000 mark. Mel Ott is 21st on the all-time list with 5,041 total bases, while George Brett is 20th at 5,044.

June 14: Tigers 10, Royals 3 -- Miggy delivers in 11-pitch at-bat
Miguel Cabrera battled Royals starter Brad Keller through 93-degree weather for 11 pitches in the first inning, fouling off five consecutive 3-2 offerings before delivering a ground ball through the middle for an RBI single. It was Cabrera's longest plate appearance since he battled then-Mariner Félix Hernández for a 13-pitch walk on Aug. 10, 2016.

June 13: White Sox 4, Tigers 1 -- We want the Funk
Former Tigers prospect Kyle Funkhouser made his first Major League start on Sunday, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings in a spot assignment against the White Sox, after enjoying a strong stint in Detroit's bullpen. The former fourth-round Draft pick has become a high-leverage reliever but has excelled in multi-inning appearances this season, allowing two earned runs on six hits in 12 2/3 innings for a 1.42 ERA with three walks and 11 strikeouts.

June 12: White Sox 15, Tigers 2 -- Two position players pitch
With the pitching staff taxed and a bullpen start looming, the Tigers turned to catcher Jake Rogers and infielder Harold Castro to pitch the eighth and ninth innings. It marked the first time that the Tigers used two position players to pitch in the same game since Sept. 2, 1918, when Ty Cobb and Bobby Veach pitched two innings each in a 7-3 win over the White Sox in the second game of a season-ending doubleheader. Cobb actually pitched two innings the day before as well, as the Tigers played three doubleheaders over the final four days of the season.

June 11: White Sox 5, Tigers 4 (10) -- Caught stealing the hard way
Tigers catcher Jake Rogers completed a rundown between first and second base Friday by tagging out Danny Mendick on his way to second base. Rogers was backing up first base on the rundown and got involved. In the process, he became the first Major League catcher to tag out a runner trying to steal second base since San Diego's Luis Torrens tagged out San Francisco's Denard Span on Oct. 1, 2017.

June 10: Tigers 8, Mariners 3 -- Miggy moves up
Miguel Cabrera's first-inning double marked his 584th career two-bagger, pushing him past Hall of Famer Robin Yount for 21st on the all-time Major League list. It also tied him with Dave Winfield for 22nd all-time with 1,093 extra-base hits.

June 9: Mariners 9, Tigers 6 (11 innings) -- Rogers stops runners cold
Jake Rogers' caught stealing of Taylor Trammell to end the sixth inning marked Rogers' fifth would-be basestealer retired in six attempts this year. He has thrown out a would-be basestealer in each of his last four starts behind the plate, the longest such streak by a Tigers catcher since Alex Avila did it in five consecutive games May 22-27, 2014.

June 8: Tigers 5, Mariners 3 -- Hill turns on the jets
Derek Hill covered 72 feet in 4.4 seconds to run down a line drive from Mitch Haniger to strand two runners in the fourth inning. He reached a sprint speed of 28 feet per second, the third time in the last four games Hill has registered that speed or faster on the field. His top speed was 29.4 feet per second while trying to run down Nick Madrigal's home run last Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

June 6: White Sox 3, Tigers 0 -- Haase burns up basepaths
Though Eric Haase's home-run streak ended, his second-inning double to the left-field wall had a 108.4 mph exit velocity, his hardest-hit ball of the series. He then advanced to third on a Nomar Mazara flyout with a sprint speed of 28.2 feet per second. His average sprint speed of 27.9 feet per second is actually fifth fastest on the team this season, trailing only Akil Baddoo, Victor Reyes, Willi Castro and Niko Goodrum.

June 5: Tigers 4, White Sox 3 -- More K's in Skubal
Tarik Skubal set a career high with 11 strikeouts against the White Sox, including eight consecutive strikeouts from the second inning into the fourth. He became the 10th Tiger in franchise history to record eight or more strikeouts in four consecutive outings, a group that includes:

• Justin Verlander
• Max Scherzer
• Jack Morris
• Hal Newhouser
• Mickey Lolich
• Denny McLain
• Matthew Boyd
• Aníbal Sánchez
• Les Cain

Skubal also became the fifth Major League rookie since 2010 to post four consecutive games of eight or more strikeouts, joining Noah Syndergaard (2015), José Fernández (2013), Yu Darvish (2012) and Stephen Strasburg (2010). Skubal's 11 strikeouts are also tied for the most by a Tigers rookie since at least 1974, matching Michael Fulmer (May 21, 2016), Pat Underwood (July 2, 1979) and Morris (July 31, 1977).

June 4: White Sox 9, Tigers 8 -- Launch angle master
Jonathan Schoop's sixth-inning solo homer on Friday was a line drive into the White Sox bullpen behind the left-field corner at Guaranteed Rate Field. The 19-degree launch angle was the second-lowest angle for a Tigers home run this season, behind only the 18-degree home run Schoop hit against Cleveland last week at Comerica Park.

June 3: White Sox 4, Tigers 1 -- Prospects tee off
While this game featured five solo home runs, two of Detroit's most intriguing prospects displayed their power stroke in the Minor Leagues. Tigers top prospect Spencer Torkelson and No. 5 prospect Dillon Dingler hit tape-measure home runs for High-A West Michigan in the Whitecaps' 12-1 win over the Great Lakes Loons. Torkelson's first-inning solo homer traveled an estimated 442 feet into the trees beyond straightaway center field at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich. Dingler's eighth-inning grand slam -- his seventh homer of the season -- went even further, estimated at 445 feet and reportedly leaving the stadium. Those drives would rank tied for second and fifth, respectively, among Tigers home runs this year if included among Detroit's distances, according to Statcast.

June 1: Tigers 10, Brewers 7 -- Candy's streak atop MLB
By drawing a walk in the second inning of an 0-for-5 showing against the Brewers on Tuesday, Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario salvaged his on-base streak. The 27-year-old has reached base in 28 consecutive games, which is the most in baseball this season.