Tigers Stat of the Day: July 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, June 2021

July 31: Orioles 5, Tigers 2 -- Miggy nearing Robinson in hits
Miguel Cabrera singled leading off the second inning for his 2,942nd career hit and his 2,100th as a Tiger. The former number puts him one away from tying Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for 35th on the AL/NL all-time list.

July 30: Orioles 4, Tigers 3 -- Miggy hits it far but out
Miguel Cabrera's 422-foot sacrifice fly was one foot shy of his longest-hit out in the Statcast era, since 2015. He had a 423-foot drive against Cleveland to the same area that Austin Jackson ran down on Sept. 1, 2017. Statcast also had it one foot shy of the longest sacrifice fly in the Majors since 2015, just shy of Anthony Rizzo's 423-foot sac fly at Comerica Park on Aug. 26, 2020.

July 29: Tigers 6, Orioles 2 -- Haase's 3 straight multi-RBI games
Eric Haase delivered a first-inning sacrifice fly and a third-inning RBI single for a two-RBI game in Thursday's win. He's the second MLB rookie this season to post three consecutive multi-RBI games, joining Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec (May 13-15). No Tigers rookie had posted three straight multi-RBI games since Danny Bautista from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, 1993.

July 28: Tigers 17, Twins 14 -- This inning goes to 11
Detroit sent 11 batters to the plate in an eight-run fourth inning. It marked the club's highest-scoring inning since a nine-run fifth against the Mariners at Comerica Park on April 25, 2017. Tyler Collins had two hits and three RBIs in that inning.

July 27: Tigers 6, Twins 5 (11) -- A grand day for catchers
The Twins pulled ahead on the Tigers in the first inning with a Mitch Garver grand slam, only to watch Eric Haase's grand slam tie it in the ninth. It marked the first time in Major League history that opposing catchers hit grand slams in the same game.

July 26: Twins 6, Tigers 5 (10) -- Manning tightens the curve
Matt Manning took a no-decision in the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over four-plus innings, but he made progress pitching-wise with a better mix, including a sharper curveball. He threw 18 curveballs out of 74 pitches with an average 2,347 rpm spin rate, 81 rpm above his season average. The curve induced four swings and misses, including three of his four strikeouts. "In between starts, I just kind of tweaked my grip up," Manning said. "I just closed my fingers up a little bit so I can kind of spin it a little better."

July 25: Royals 6, Tigers 1 -- Schoop steady at the plate
Jonathan Schoop extended his career-best hit streak to 15 games with a leadoff double in the ninth inning. The streak is the longest for any Tiger since 2017, when Nick Castellanos hit in 17 consecutive games.

July 24: Royals 9, Tigers 8 -- Cabrera hits another RBI mark
Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in his prolific career on Saturday. His fourth-inning sacrifice fly marked the 1,769th RBI in Cabrera's career, moving him past Red Sox star David Ortiz and into sole possession of 22nd place on the all-time RBI list for the American and National Leagues. Cabrera later added a second sac fly, and now sits 32 RBIs shy of Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, at No. 21.

July 23: Royals 5, Tigers 3 -- Schoop's streak hits 13
With an RBI single in the sixth inning of the series opener, Jonathan Schoop extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games. During the streak, Schoop is batting .385 with 13 RBIs.

July 22: Tigers 7, Rangers 5 -- Hammerin' Haase strikes again
Eric Haase's three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday's win over the Rangers had a 110.8 mph exit velocity, his fourth hardest-hit ball of the season and his third-hardest homer.

July 21: Tigers 4, Rangers 2 -- A big turnaround
The Tigers began the season by losing 24 of their first 33 games, the worst record in the Majors. They're 37-27 since May 8, the fifth-best record in the American League in that span. The four AL teams with better records since then -- the Astros, White Sox, Rays and Red Sox -- would make the postseason if the season ended today.

July 20: Tigers 4, Rangers 1 -- 11 years later, another Sborz
Eleven years after former Tigers second-round Draft pick Jay Sborz made his only Major League appearance, pitching two-thirds of an inning in relief for the Tigers against the Mets on June 22, 2010, at Citi Field, his younger brother Josh pitched 1 1/3 innings for the Rangers against the Tigers at Comerica Park. Among the batters he retired was Miguel Cabrera, who played first base for the Tigers in Jay's only big league appearance.

July 19: Tigers 14, Rangers 0 -- Bats take it to Texas
The Tigers' rout in the series opener was just the fourth time since 1997 that they posted a shutout while scoring 14 or more runs. All of them took place in Detroit. Their last was a 14-0 win over Cleveland on Sept. 26, 2011. The Tigers also had a 16-0 victory over the Yankees on Aug. 27, 2007, and a 14-0 win over the Mets on June 30, 1997. Their seven-run sixth inning included their first nine consecutive batters reaching base safely, the first time they've done that since Aug. 8, 2001 -- also against Texas.

July 18: Tigers 7, Twins 0 -- Miggy moving on up
Miguel Cabrera's third-inning RBI single was his 2,929th career hit, tying him with Hall of Famer Al Simmons for 40th on the all-time list. His next hit will move him into a tie with Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby and Jake Beckley for 38th.

July 17: Tigers 1, Twins 0 (Game 1); Tigers 5, Twins 4 (8) (Game 2) -- Hit stays up for Miggy
Miguel Cabrera's walk-off single in Saturday night's Game 2 win had a hang time of 6.0 seconds, the longest hang time this season on a Tigers hit other than a home run. It's the longest hang time on any Miguel Cabrera base hit since his home run off Kansas City's Kyle Zimmer on Aug. 8, 2019, which was in the air for 6.1 seconds.

July 11: Twins 12, Tigers 9 (10 innings) -- Rogers slams Twins
Jake Rogers’ go-ahead grand slam was Detroit's sixth go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning or later since 2000. It was the first one in a game the Tigers didn’t win. The others:

• Sept. 14, 2019 -- John Hicks vs. Orioles (walk-off in 12th)
• June 30, 2014 -- Rajai Davis vs. A’s (walk-off)
• Sept. 6, 2009 -- Brandon Inge at Rays
• April 11, 2007 -- Craig Monroe at Orioles (12th inning)
• June 27, 2004 -- Carlos Peña vs. D-backs (walk-off)

July 10: Twins 9, Tigers 4 -- Schoop's scorching liner
On the same day Jonathan Schoop learned he was not one of the late additions to the American League All-Star roster, he took out any frustration on Target Field's left-field wall. His leadoff double in the eighth inning had a 117.1 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. It's the hardest-hit ball recorded from a Tigers hitter since Statcast emerged in 2015. The previous high by a Tiger was a Miguel Cabrera single at 115.6 mph on May 30, 2015.

July 9: Twins 4, Tigers 2 -- Back-to-back no-hit bids
Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning held the Twins hitless for their first 4 1/3 innings on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday at Target Field. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marks the first time two Major League rookie pitchers have pitched consecutive games with at least 4 1/3 no-hit innings since Cardinals teammates Daniel Ponce de Leon and Austin Gomber each held the Reds hitless for seven-plus innings on July 23-24, 2018, in Cincinnati.

July 8: Twins 5, Tigers 3 -- Haase tacks on before the break
Eric Haase's two-run homer off J.A. Happ was his 13th of the year, which is the most by a Tigers rookie prior to the All-Star break since Matt Nokes had 20 homers in 1987.

July 7: Tigers 5, Rangers 3 -- Rolling into the All-Star break
Detroit's victory secured its first series win against Texas since Aug. 12-14, 2016. The Tigers are 4-0-1 and have a 10-5 record over their past five series with a 10-5 record, and they own a plus-8 run differential during that stretch. Detroit began the season with a 4-13 road record but has posted a 15-12 mark in its past 27 road tilts.

July 6: Rangers 10, Tigers 5 -- Tigers racking up XBH
Detroit collected three extra-base hits in the loss, including homers from catchers Eric Haase and Jake Rogers, the latter of whom also tripled. It brought the Tigers' total to 43 extra-base hits in the past 15 games, and entering play Tuesday, only the Red Sox had more in the American League.

July 5: Tigers 7, Rangers 3 -- Short flashes leather
Zack Short's two-run homer in the sixth inning came on the heels of six consecutive strikeouts from the rookie, who was recalled from Triple-A on June 26. While the round-tripper was definitely cause for celebration, it was Short's defense in the eighth that earned him the best reactions from his teammates.

Short dove hard to snag a hard-hit grounder off the bat of Nick Solak, then, while still laying on his stomach, flipped the ball from his glove to second baseman Willi Castro, who then fired to first for the second out. Castro's throw reached the base a half step ahead of Solak, who was motoring down the line at 29.4 ft./sec., just a shade under the 30 ft./sec. benchmark for elite sprint speed.

July 4: Tigers 6, White Sox 5 -- Haase betrayed by home park
One day after Eric Haase had the second-shortest home run by distance at Comerica Park in the Statcast era (since 2015) with an inside-the-park home run, he had a 395-foot drive caught in the shadow of the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field Sunday for a double play. It was the second-longest double-play ball at Comerica Park in the Statcast era. Only Anthony Rendon's 402-foot drive to center on June 28, 2019, produced a longer double play. Haase's ball would've been a home run in 26 other Major League parks.

July 3: Tigers 11, White Sox 5 -- Schoop goes 440 to center
Jonathan Schoop's 16th home run of the season Saturday was his first into what used to be J.D. Martinez territory around the camera porch over the center-field shrubs at Comerica Park. The eighth-inning solo homer hit the advertising board just below the porch, a 440-foot drive according to Statcast. It marks Schoop's longest home run of the season, and the sixth-longest home run by a Tiger this year.

July 2: White Sox 8, Tigers 2 -- Baddoo the base thief
Akil Baddoo stole two bases Friday, including a swipe of third in the opening inning. It was the fifth steal of third by the Tigers this year, the most they've had in a season since 2017. One batter after Baddoo stole third, Robbie Grossman took second for his 10th stolen base of the season. He's the third Tiger to reach double digits this year, something the Tigers haven't had since 2018.