Tigers Stat of the Day: May 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: April 2021

May 31: Brewers 3, Tigers 2 (10 innings) -- Schoop on a roll
Jonathan Schoop continued his strong performance at the plate on Monday, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single. Schoop has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and is hitting .368 with two home runs and four RBIs during that stretch.

May 30: Tigers 6, Yankees 2 -- Don't Short-change Zack
Zack Short, just called up from Triple-A Toledo, started for the Tigers at shortstop on Sunday. According to Baseball Reference, he's one of five Major Leaguers named Short, but the first to make a start at short. Chris Short pitched with the Phillies and Brewers from 1959-73. Bill Short pitched six seasons in the big leagues in the 1960s. Dave Short was a left fielder and pinch-hitter for the White Sox from 1940-41. Most recently, Rick Short played 11 games at second and first for the Nationals in 2005.

May 29: Tigers 6, Yankees 1 -- Haase gets a three-bagger
Detroit area native Eric Haase helped fuel the Tigers' offensive attack with a fourth-inning gapper to the fence in left-center for the first triple of his Major League career. In the process, he became the first Tigers catcher to triple since Grayson Greiner on Sept. 12, 2019. That also came against the Yankees in a game that Spencer Turnbull started.

May 28: Tigers 3, Yankees 2 (10) -- Mize ties career high in K's
Casey Mize matched a career high with seven strikeouts against the Yankees, and he did it in just five innings. Mize didn't allow a walk and gave up only five hits as he took a no-decision. This is the third time in Mize's career that he's struck out seven in a game.

May 27: Indians 5, Tigers 2 -- Schoop breaks up no-no
The Tigers were on the way to potentially being no-hit for the 15th time in team history, but Jonathan Schoop's leadoff homer in the seventh ended Shane Bieber's no-hit threat. Schoop's third homer off a right-hander this season left the bat at 115.3 mph and traveled 402 feet to give Detroit its first run of the game.

May 26: Tigers 1, Indians 0 -- Sac fly saves the day
Wednesday's win was the Tigers' first 1-0 victory since April 8, 2018, when they beat the White Sox in Chicago. That game, too, was decided on a sacrifice fly -- by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning, scoring Leonys Martin. Starter Mike Fiers earned his first win as a Tiger. Detroit hadn't beaten Cleveland by a 1-0 score since May 8, 2009, when Justin Verlander outpitched Cliff Lee at Progressive Field with help from Curtis Granderson's ninth-inning catch at the wall to take a home run away from Grady Sizemore.

May 25: Indians 4, Tigers 1 -- Skubal fans 9 ... again
Tarik Skubal is the first Tigers rookie to put up nine strikeouts in consecutive starts since Mark Leiter Sr. in 1991. Leiter’s son, Mark Jr., was born that year, and now pitches in the Tigers’ system for Double-A Erie.

May 24: Indians 6, Tigers 5 -- Turnbull shuts down long ball
Spencer Turnbull held Cleveland to seven singles over six innings, his fifth homerless outing in as many starts this month. He has allowed one homer in 40 1/3 innings this season, and three over 97 innings since the start of last year. His 0.7 home runs per nine innings in that span is the lowest among Major League pitchers with at least 18 starts.

May 23: Royals 3, Tigers 2 -- Mize sharp during streak
Casey Mize allowed a run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings but took a no-decision. The rookie has pitched at least six innings and allowed four hits or fewer in each of his past five starts, tied for the longest such streak in team history. Michael Fulmer last accomplished it May 21-June 12, 2016. Max Scherzer ran off two such streaks, from May 21-June 11, 2013, and July 22-Aug. 13, 2013. Mickey Lolich did it Aug. 12-Sept. 5, 1964.

May 22: Royals 7, Tigers 5 -- Grossman is Royal pain
Robbie Grossman played in just his 44th game with the Tigers, but the outfielder already is establishing himself as a Royals nemesis. His two-hit game, including a two-run homer in the ninth inning, marked his fifth multi-hit effort in nine games against Kansas City this season. He's batting .342 (13-for-38) against the Royals, but .233 (28-for-120) against all other opponents this year.

May 21: Tigers 7, Royals 5 -- Streaking along
Detroit moved to 4-0 on the current road trip. The Tigers had previously won four consecutive games on the road on June 2018, and those victories actually came on two separate trips. The last time they won four in a row on the same road trip was Aug. 1-4, 2017, against the Yankees and Orioles. The last win in that stretch went to Justin Verlander.

May 19: Tigers 6, Mariners 2 -- First Seattle sweep since '06
The Tigers completed their first series sweep in Seattle since April 21-23, 2006. It also marked Detroit's third three-game sweep of the season, joining last week's sweep of Kansas City and last month's sweep in Houston. Those three series account for more than half of Detroit's 17 wins this season. The Tigers swept only two series last year, and they hadn't swept three three-game series by the end of May in a season since 2014, when they won the last of their four consecutive AL Central titles.

May 18: Tigers 5, Mariners 0 -- Nothing lost, nothing gained
Spencer Turnbull's no-hitter comes two years after he led the Majors in losses during his 3-17 season in 2019. Four other pitchers have thrown no-hitters within two seasons after leading MLB in losses: Amos Rusie in 1891, Red Donahue in 1898, Jim Tobin in 1944 and Scott Erickson in 1994. Three other pitchers threw no-hitters in the same season they led the Majors in losses: Henry Potter in 1888, Joe Bush in 1916 and Sam Jones in 1955.

May 17: Tigers 4, Mariners 1 -- A-Mize-ing work
Casey Mize held the Mariners to a run on three hits over 7 2/3 innings Monday, becoming the third Tigers rookie since 2006 to post at least 7 2/3 innings in a start with three hits or fewer. Justin Verlander tossed eight scoreless innings on three hits against the Astros on June 28, 2006. Michael Fulmer did it in back-to-back starts against the A's and Angels on May 27 and June 1, 2016. Both Verlander and Fulmer went on to win AL Rookie of the Year.

May 16: Cubs 5, Tigers 1 -- Cabrera racking up the hits
Miguel Cabrera's two-hit game Sunday was his fifth multihit effort in his past eight games. It also pushed his career hit total to 2,883. His next hit will tie him with Hall of Famer Zack Wheat for No. 41 on the MLB all-time list.

May 15: Tigers 9, Cubs 8 (10) -- Cabrera continues to climb
Miguel Cabrera's seventh-inning single not only tied the game, it marked hit No. 2,881 of his career. With the knock, Cabrera passed Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch for 42nd on the all-time list.

May 14: Cubs 4, Tigers 2 -- Skubal opens 0-6
Friday's loss dropped Tarik Skubal to 0-6 this season, making him the second Tigers starter with an 0-6 record in the past three seasons. Jordan Zimmermann was 0-8 over his first 13 outings in 2019 before picking up his only win that season on July 29. Before that, the last Detroit starters to go 0-6 were Mike Maroth and Adam Bernero in 2003.

May 13: Tigers 4, Royals 3 -- Turnbull defeats division foe
The Tigers’ victory marked Spencer Turnbull's first win against an AL Central opponent in his career. He was 0-15 against the division and only had one win against the American League, a 2019 victory over the Red Sox. By contrast, he's 7-1 against the National League.

May 12: Tigers 4, Royals 2 -- Mize spinning to new heights
Casey Mize’s average spin rate of 2270 rpm Wednesday was his highest of the season, including an 87 rpm jump on his four-seam fastball, which produced seven of his 10 swings and misses. His average velocity of 90.8 mph was the third highest of his seven starts this year, partly due to his fastball usage. Among qualified American League pitchers, Mize ranks fourth in average pitch velocity at 90.6 mph and fifth in average horizontal break at 6.9 inches.

May 11: Tigers 8, Royals 7 -- Hot start for Boyd (1.94 ERA)
Matthew Boyd did not earn the win after his six scoreless innings, but he lowered his ERA for the season to 1.94. He's the fifth Tigers starter since 2010 to have a sub-2.00 ERA over his first seven starts. Jordan Zimmermann, who announced his retirement Tuesday, was the last, posting a 1.50 ERA in ‘16. Others include Max Scherzer (1.72 in ‘14), Justin Verlander (1.55 in ‘13) and Aníbal Sánchez (1.97 also in ‘13).

May 8: Tigers 7, Twins 3 -- Miggy ties Ott for 44th
Miguel Cabrera hit singles in the seventh and eighth innings for his second consecutive two-hit game. One day after surpassing Babe Ruth on MLB's all-time hits list, his 2,876th career hit tied Mel Ott for 44th. His next hit will push him past Ott and tie Omar Vizquel, his former first-base coach with the Tigers, for 43rd place.

May 7: Twins 7, Tigers 3 -- Miggy mashes vs. Twins
Miguel Cabrera's two hits Friday against the Twins pushed him past Babe Ruth for 45th on MLB's all-time hits list. Cabrera has recorded 241 of his 2,874 career hits against the Twins. Only Cleveland has yielded more Miggy hits, with 256.

May 6: Red Sox 12, Tigers 9 -- Wilson shows off arm
Wilson Ramos completed a strikeout/throwout double play in the third inning by catching Rafael Devers trying to steal second base. Ramos' throw to Harold Castro registered at 77.8 mph, his second-strongest throw of the season. Ramos later left the game with lower back tightness.

May 5: Tigers 6, Red Sox 5 (10 innings) -- Coming Fulm circle
One night after Michael Fulmer started the Tigers' series opener in Boston and managed to secure just two outs during a four-run first inning, he came on to protect a 10th-inning lead and finished with a strikeout of Kiké Hernández for his first professional save. In the process, Fulmer became the first pitcher in Tigers history to start one day and earn the save the next. The last Major Leaguer to do it was former Tigers prospect Chad Green, who pitched a scoreless opening inning for the Yankees in the nightcap of an Aug. 3, 2019, doubleheader against the Red Sox, then pitched the ninth for the save the next night.

May 4: Red Sox 11, Tigers 7 -- Walk it off, Robbie
Robbie Grossman reached base five times for the first time in his career. Two of those came on walks, giving Grossman 22 on the season, tied for second most in the American League and third most in MLB. Grossman is the first Tiger since Kirk Gibson in 1993 with 22 or more walks and six or more stolen bases through the first 29 games of a season.

May 2: Yankees 2, Tigers 0 -- The house that Ureña quieted
José Ureña retired the final 17 Yankees batters he faced. That's the most consecutive batters a Tigers pitcher has retired at Yankee Stadium, current and previous versions. This obviously does not include Billy Chapel, the Kevin Costner character who retired all 27 Yankee hitters he faced in his final start for the Tigers in the movie "For Love of the Game."

May 1: Yankees 6, Tigers 4 -- Niko lifts Tigers' offense
Niko Goodrum's eighth-inning home run was a loft to right field with a 34-degree launch angle, following a home run against the White Sox on Tuesday with a 40-degree launch angle. His other two homers this season had 31-degree launch angles. The increased altitude reflects a larger change in his game. Goodrum's average launch angle has jumped from 13 degrees in 2019 to 16 degrees last year to 20.8 so far this season. His 4.8-degree increase this year puts him just outside the top 30 for the biggest jump among Major League hitters.