Sports
Guardians bracing for white-hot Tigers in ALDS
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton (87) high-fives teammates in the dugout after pitching change against Chicago White Sox during the eighth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians have played each other more than 2,300 times but never have they clashed in a series this important.
The Tigers and Guardians begin play in the American League Division Series on Saturday in Cleveland, and the winner of the best-of-five series will advance to the AL Championship Series.
Cleveland went 7-6 against the Tigers in the regular-season series but the last meeting was July 30, after Detroit parted with some veterans at the trading deadline.
Those moves sparked the club and Detroit won 31 of 42 games at one point en route to overtaking the collapsing Minnesota Twins for the sixth and final AL playoff berth. Then the Tigers upset the Houston Astros in a two-game wild-card sweep earlier this week.
“We know the Tigers have been hot for a long time now,” Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges said Friday. “It’s not just a playoff win. They’ve been the best team in baseball for a long time. And you know they’ve played us tough all year. So we have our hands full, but we’re prepared.”
The Guardians, of course, were consistently good all season long while earning the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. Cleveland thrived under first-year manager Stephen Vogt.
But Detroit vs. Cleveland in the postseason? This is a first — and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said the matchup is “good for baseball.”
“Detroit is a city that’s built around grit,” Hinch said Friday. “We say that all the time because we live it. Cleveland, obviously, a very good city, very proud of their sports teams, including the Guardians, who have been really good at getting to the playoffs and not too far removed from the World Series (2016).”
While the Tigers lack star power, Cleveland features one of the best players in the game in six-time All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez.
Ramirez annually torches Detroit pitching. He batted .347 with five homers and 12 RBIs this season to raise his career numbers to 33 homers and 122 RBIs. He has a .304 average.
In the regular season, Ramirez batted .279 with 39 homers, 39 doubles, 41 steals and 118 RBIs. Only Aaron Judge (144) and Shohei Ohtani (130) had more RBIs.
“It’s one of my favorite parts of having this job is getting to watch (Jose) every single night,” Vogt said. “We’re spoiled.”
Ramirez’s first at-bat on Saturday will come against Detroit left-hander Tyler Holton, who will serve as the club’s opener for the second straight game.
Holton (7-2, 2.19 ERA) recorded one out in the Tigers’ Game 1 win over Houston before serving in the opener role and pitching a perfect first inning in Game 2.
Part of the reason for the 28-year-old Holton handling the first inning is to face Ramirez and having the switch-hitter bat right-handed. But the Cleveland star has controlled his at-bats against Holton by going 3-for-7 with two doubles.
“He’s probably going to be the most important matchup,” Holton said. “I know we had intentionally walked him in past games and whatnot.”
Right-hander Tanner Bibee (12-8, 3.47 ERA) will start for the Guardians.
Bibee, 25, went 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts against Detroit this season. Overall, he is 1-3 with a 5.28 ERA in six career outings against the Tigers.
Matt Vierling has two homers against Bibee and Kerry Carpenter has one.
The contest will be the first postseason outing for Bibee, and he feels he’s ready to handle the extra pressure.
“I don’t know if I’ll be more nervous, but I feel like there will definitely be a lot more adrenaline,” Bibee said. “I feel like the bigger crowds you have, I feel like naturally, wherever you are, I feel like you’re going to have more adrenaline, whether you’re facing more people or facing people with more people in the crowd, stuff like that. I feel like maybe a little bit.”
The slider is Bibee’s out pitch. Opponents batted .152 (25-for-164) with 58 strikeouts against his slider this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros put RHP Spencer Arrighetti (foot) on 15-day IL
Jul 8, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images In the thick of the American League West and AL wild-card races, the Houston Astros placed right-handed starter Spencer Arrighetti on the 15-day injured list Saturday with nerve irritation in his foot.
Arrighetti, 26, left Friday’s start against the Chicago White Sox after one inning and 33 pitches due to the foot issue.
In a corresponding move, Houston recalled left-handed reliever Bryan King from Triple-A Sugar Land.
In 17 starts this season, Arrighetti is 7-5 with a 4.60 ERA, allowing six or more earned runs in three of his final four starts before the All-Star break. The 2021 sixth-round pick, who debuted with Houston in 2024, is 15-23 with a 4.66 ERA in 53 games (52 starts).
The 29-year-old King has made 42 relief appearances with the Astros in 2026, posting a 2-3 record with a 3.40 ERA. Across his three MLB seasons, all with Houston, he is 8-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 138 relief outings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Athletics activate star Nick Kurtz (thumb) from IL
![Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) takes first base as Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) misses a catch during the first inning] at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.](https://dailyfacthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/29355296.jpg)
Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) takes first base as Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) misses a catch during the first inning] at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. The Athletics activated All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz from the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday’s road game against the Minnesota Twins.
Kurtz sustained a right thumb capsule sprain and was placed on the IL on July 10 and the injury forced him to miss the All-Star Game. He had been elevated to American League starter when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (back) of the Toronto Blue Jays backed out.
Kurtz is batting second and serving as the designated hitter on Saturday.
Kurtz exited a 6-1 loss at Detroit on July 8 after 1 1/2 innings after he appeared to hurt the hand while trying to field a throw in the bottom of the first. The following day, he was the designated hitter and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 4-1 loss to the Tigers.
Kurtz, 23, is batting .266 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 92 games. He was the unanimous 2025 AL Rookie of the Year with a .290 batting average, 36 home runs and 86 RBIs in just 117 games.
Third baseman Max Muncy was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move. He was recalled by the A’s earlier this week and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in two games.
Muncy, 23, is batting .223 with five homers and 20 RBIs over 48 games. He has a .218 average in 111 big league games over the past two campaigns.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Davis Alexander, Alouettes look to extend East cushion vs. Tiger-Cats
Nov 16, 2025; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander (10) looks to pass during the fourth quarter against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the 112th Grey Cup Championship at Princess Auto Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-Imagn Images With a healthy Davis Alexander at the controls, the Montreal Alouettes have a chance to run away with the East Division pretty quickly.
When Montreal hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night, it has a chance to take a three-game lead and earn the tiebreaker with a victory.
Most of that is because Alexander has – to this point – stayed off the injured list after playing just eight games last year due to a hamstring injury. Alexander has rolled up huge numbers for the Als (5-1), passing for 2,181 yards and 11 touchdowns while setting a new CFL record by throwing 336 straight passes without an interception.
Head coach Jason Maas said he and Alexander came to an understanding that he had to curb his scrambling style to be of maximum use to the club.
“He’s very smart about how he plays and what he decides to do,” Maas said. “There’s a reason he has played (six) straight games. These things, after you’ve had one, they can reoccur and it takes a lot of time to get over them.”
While Montreal is soaring with its quarterback at 100 percent, Hamilton (3-3) got back into the win column last week when its third starting quarterback in three weeks gave the offense a big lift in a 24-23 win over Toronto.
Tre Ford hit on 21 of 27 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 109 yards on 10 attempts. The Tiger-Cats struggled mightily on offense in back-to-back losses to Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, largely because star QB Bo Levi Mitchell broke his ankle in the third quarter against Winnipeg.
“Using my legs is going to be an asset for my team,” said Ford, a former starter in Edmonton before being benched last year for Cody Fajardo. “Having legs definitely helps … being able to extend plays, run around and get first downs.”
It was really helpful last week when tackles Trevor Reid and Quinton Barrow left with injuries, forcing rookie tight end Max Mang into emergency duty as a guard.
–Field Level Media
Astros put RHP Spencer Arrighetti (foot) on 15-day IL
Athletics activate star Nick Kurtz (thumb) from IL
