Tigers Stat of the Day: Sept./Oct. 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, August 2021

Oct. 3: Tigers 5, White Sox 2 -- What a year for Baddoo
Former Rule 5 Draft pick Akil Baddoo finished his rookie season with a .259 average, 20 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs, 55 RBIs and a .766 OPS. His 2.2 bWAR is the highest by a Tigers position player in his rookie season since Austin Jackson's 5.1 bWAR in 2010. Baddoo's 18 stolen bases are the most by a Tigers rookie since Quintin Berry swiped 21 bases in 2012.

Oct. 2: White Sox 5, Tigers 4 -- Grossman reaches 20-20-20
Robbie Grossman didn't need long to steal his 20th base of the season, swiping second on starter Lucas Giolito two pitches after his leadoff single in the fourth inning. With that, Grossman became the seventh player in Tigers history with a 20-20-20 season in doubles, homers and steals. Curtis Granderson last accomplished the feat in 2009 (and 2007). Others include Kirk Gibson (1984-85, '87), Alan Trammell (1986-87), Chad Curtis (1995), Damion Easley (1997) and Gary Sheffield (2007).

Oct. 1: White Sox 8, Tigers 1 -- Grossman has 20-20 vision
Robbie Grossman's steal of third in the sixth inning was his 19th stolen base of the season. With 23 home runs this year, he's one steal shy of becoming the Tigers' seventh player with a 20-20 season, and the first since Curtis Granderson in 2009.

Sept. 30: Tigers 10, Twins 7 -- Niko remains on Target
Niko Goodrum powered the Tigers with two home runs and four RBIs on Thursday. He has five home runs and 12 RBIs for his career at Target Field, all as a visiting player, both his highest totals anywhere other than Comerica Park.

Sept. 29: Twins 5, Tigers 2 -- Mize, Skubal chasing history
Casey Mize tossed four innings in his final start of the year to finish with 150 1/3 innings for the season. If Tarik Skubal pitches at least four innings in Thursday’s series finale, the Tigers will have two rookies finish with 150+ innings in the same season for the first time since Ray Bare and Vern Ruhle in 1975.

Sept. 28: Twins 3, Tigers 2 -- Grossman takes his walks
Robbie Grossman's first-inning walk was his 96th free pass of the season. If he draws four more walks over Detroit's final five games, he'll become the first Tiger with a 100-walk season since Miguel Cabrera drew 108 walks in 2011.

Sept. 27: White Sox 8, Tigers 7 -- Miggy passes Rice
Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-4 on Monday in his final home game of the season, continuing his charge towards 3,000 career hits. His eighth-inning double was his 2,986 hit, pushing him past Hall of Famer Sam Rice for 33rd place on MLB's all-time hits list. Though Rice is listed with 2,987 hits on baseball-reference.com, he is credited with 2,985 hits by Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of MLB.

Sept. 26: Royals 2, Tigers 1 -- Miggy keeps nearing 3,000
Miguel Cabrera's 2,984th career hit was an infield single leading off the ninth inning in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Royals. His next hit will tie him with Hall of Famer Sam Rice for 33rd on MLB's all-time hits list.

Sept. 25: Tigers 5, Royals 1 -- Miggy gets closer to 3,000
Miguel Cabrera had three hits and four RBIs in the win. His two-run double in the sixth inning was the 596th two-bagger of his career, tying him with former Tiger Luis Gonzalez for 18th in Major League history. Cabrera enters Sunday with 2,983 career hits, 17 shy of the 3,000-hit milestone with eight games left. His 252 career hits against the Royals are the most among active Major League hitters, and his second-highest total against an opponent.

Sept. 24: Royals 3, Tigers 1 -- Mize's steady ship
Casey Mize pitched three innings of one-run ball in his start against the Royals, dropping his ERA from 3.64 to 3.63. His ERA has barely moved over the past four months, ranging between 3.28 and 3.69 every day since May 17.

Sept. 21: Tigers 5, White Sox 3 -- One base at a time
The Tigers recorded 16 hits on Tuesday, but their only extra-base hits were doubles from Robbie Grossman and Victor Reyes. It marked the first time since Sept. 11, 1992, that the Tigers recorded 16 hits in a game but just 18 total bases. They're also the first Major League team to do it since the Rangers against the Astros on June 10, 2018.

Sept. 20: Tigers 4, White Sox 3 -- RBI No. 1,800 for Miggy
Miguel Cabrera's third-inning sacrifice fly was the 1,800th RBI of his career. He's the 20th player to reach the milestone since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.

Sept. 19: Tigers 2, Rays 0 -- Garneau rakes again
Dustin Garneau clubbed his second homer in as many games during Sunday's finale, a solo shot in the seventh inning to give Detroit some breathing room. The long ball marked Garneau's sixth on the year and was his 10th extra-base hit in his last 12 games, matching his career best for an entire season.

Sept. 18: Tigers 4, Rays 3 -- Catchers power up
Dustin Garneau's second-inning homer off Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough marked his fifth of the season. The blast, which came off Garneau's bat at 104.5 mph and pushed Detroit's lead to 4-0, also gave the Tigers' catching corps -- Hasse (21), Rogers (six), Garneau (five), Greiner (one) -- 33 combined homers on the season. It's the first time since 1987, when Matt Nokes hit 28 and Mike Heath hit five, that Detroit's catchers have combined to hit 30 or more home runs.

Sept. 17: Rays 7, Tigers 4 (10 innings) -- Miggy closing in
Miguel Cabrera singled in his first two at-bats, putting him at 2,978 career hits -- 22 shy of 3,000 with 14 games to go. His first-inning single was a dribbler down the third-base line off Rays starter Luis Patiño that had an exit velocity of 59.4 miles per hour, his fourth-softest hit of the season. Cabrera's third-inning single, a ground ball through the left side, had a 110.0 mph exit velocity, his fifth-hardest hit of the season.

Sept. 16: Rays 5, Tigers 2 -- Candelario strokes laser homer
Jeimer Candelario's ninth-inning home run was a 414-foot drive to right field at a 24-degree launch angle. That's his lowest angle on a home run this year, and it's tied for his lowest launch angle on a homer since 2019. However, eight of his 15 homers this year have been hit at a 27-degree angle or lower.

Sept. 15: Tigers 4, Brewers 1 -- Garneau skies latest homer
Dustin Garneau's seventh-inning solo homer was a loft down the left-field line off Jake Cousins. The 45.8-degree launch angle is the third-highest for a Tigers home run in the Statcast era (since 2015). J.D. Martinez hit the other two in 2015, a 49.7-degree launch against the Cardinals on May 15 and a 46-degree homer against the Cubs on Aug. 19.

Sept. 14: Tigers 1, Brewers 0 (11 innings) -- Wait a while, win in style
The Tigers' win on Tuesday marked their first 1-0 victory in 11 or more innings since July 16, 1976, when Mark Fidrych pitched 11 shutout frames against Oakland and Ron LeFlore scored the winning run on a Willie Horton walk-off single off Rollie Fingers.

Sept. 12: Tigers 8, Rays 7 (11 innings) -- Skubal racking up K's
Tarik Skubal's six strikeouts over three innings marked his 22nd consecutive appearance with four or more strikeouts, the longest streak by a Major League rookie since at least 1893. He moved out of a tie with Rays rookie Shane McClanahan, whose 21-game streak ended with three strikeouts in his last start Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Sept. 11: Rays 7, Tigers 2 -- Another HR that exceeds percentages
Robbie Grossman's ninth-inning solo homer had an expected batting average of .230 based on launch angle (34 degrees) and exit velocity (97.7 mph). It's his fifth home run this season with an expected batting average of .250 or less. The rest of the Tigers have seven such homers combined (Akil Baddoo has three, while Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan Schoop, Jake Rogers and Zack Short have one each). Grossman's five would rank fifth among AL hitters based on totals entering play Saturday.

Sept. 10: Tigers 10, Rays 4 -- Candelario hits 40th double
Jeimer Candelario's two-run double was his 40th of the year, Detroit's first 40-double season since Nick Castellanos hit 46 in 2018. It's the 12th 40-double season by a Tiger in the Comerica Park era, a list that includes four such seasons from Miguel Cabrera (2010-12, '14) and a 54-double season from Magglio Ordonez in '07.

Sept. 8: Tigers 5, Pirates 1 -- Aaron, Albert, Miggy?
Miguel Cabrera's first-inning drive off PNC Park's out-of-town scoreboard in right field was his 594th career double. He also had three singles, giving him 2,971 hits. Only Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols have posted at least 3,000 hits, 500 home runs and 600 doubles in their Major League career.

Sept. 7: Pirates 3, Tigers 2 -- Miggy passes Ichiro
Miguel Cabrera's double and two singles Tuesday against the Pirates made him MLB's all-time leader in Interleague hits with 370. He entered the day in a tie with Ichiro Suzuki at 367.

Sept. 6: Pirates 6, Tigers 3 -- Miggy makes most of guest role
Miguel Cabrera's pinch-hit sacrifice fly was his eighth sac fly of the year, his highest total since he led the American League with 11 sac flies in 2014. His 94 career sac flies are tied for 51st in American League and National League history.

Sept. 5: Tigers 4, Reds 1 -- There's no slowing Baddoo
Akil Baddoo scored from first base on a Jonathan Schoop single in the eighth inning, reaching a sprint speed of 29.1 feet per second. It marked the sixth time in 18 situations that Baddoo has gone first-to-third or better on a single this season.

Sept. 4: Reds 7, Tigers 4 -- Backstop with unique power surge
Eric Haase's three-run home run against the Reds was his 20th homer of the season. He's the first Tiger to post a 20-homer season while playing at least 60 percent of his games at catcher since Mickey Tettleton hit 32 homers while serving as Detroit's primary catcher in 1992.

Sept. 3: Tigers 15, Reds 5 -- Just call him Dustin Gone-neau
Dustin Garneau, owner of 10 home runs in his seven-year Major League career entering play Friday, homered twice vs. the Reds. Garneau became the third Tigers catcher with a two-homer game this year, joining Wilson Ramos and Eric Haase. It marks the first time in franchise history that three different catchers have had a two-homer game in the same season. The three two-homer games by catchers are also the most for the Tigers in a season since 1988 (Matt Nokes, twice, and Mike Heath), and one off the team record of four set in '68 (all done by Bill Freehan) and matched in '82 (all done by Lance Parrish) and '86 (also all done by Parrish).

Sept. 2: A's 8, Tigers 6 -- Baddoo goes oppo
Akil Baddoo's seventh-inning homer to left field was his 12th home run of the season, but his second going to the opposite field at Comerica Park. The other was his grand slam against the Twins on April 5. Coupled with his home run on Sept. 1, he homered in back-to-back games for the third time this season, and the first time since April 12-13 at Houston.

Sept. 1: Tigers 8, A's 6 -- Two more hits for Miggy
Miguel Cabrera followed his 502nd career home run on Wednesday with his 2,963rd career hit, driving in the go-ahead run against the A's. The hit tied him with Hall of Famer and longtime Tiger Sam Crawford for 34th on the all-time AL/NL list, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Crawford played 15 of his 19 seasons in Detroit, and holds the all-time AL/NL record with 309 career triples.