Tigers cough up lead to Marlins in 11th, lose on walk-off homer

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Sep 13, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — This one will leave a mark.

A double by Wenceel Perez in the top of the 11th broke the 3-3 tie. But the Tigers had the bases loaded and no outs and didn't push another run across.

And they paid for it. Troy Johnston ended the game in the bottom of the 11th with a home run off Rafael Montero.

Final score, Marlins 6, Tigers 4.

The Tigers won a series in Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2011 earlier in the week.

So, naturally, they come down to Miami and lose two straight.

Strange game, baseball.

The 10th inning was eventful.

The Tigers stranded Parker Meadows at third base in the top of the inning when reliever Michael Petersen stuck out Kerry Carpenter and got Riley Greene on an infield pop.

Reliever Will Vest, who had pitched a clean ninth inning, looked like he was going to have a quick 10th, as well. The free runner, pinch-runner Xavier Edwards, was doubled up at second base when Vest caught a bunt attempt by Javier Sanoja in the air and fired a seed to second base.

But there was drama. Vest walked Jakob Marsee and yielded a bloop single by Agustin Ramirez that sent Marsee to third.

Vest dodged the bullet, though, getting Liam Hicks, the former Tigers' farmhand, on a soft liner to short.

The Tigers came into the game nursing a 7.5-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the Central Division and they trailed the Toronto Blue Jays by two games for the No. 1 seed in the American League.

Kerry Carpenter’s 25th home run of the season erased an early 2-0 deficit. With two outs in the third, Marlins starter Janson Junk — a teammate of Tarik Skubal’s at Seattle University — waked Gleyber Torres.

Carpenter slammed a first pitch slider that hung over the plate, launching it over the wall in right-center.

The Tigers played small ball in the fifth to take a short-lived 3-2 lead. Dillon Dingler singled to start the inning. On a hard-hit grounder to first by Zach McKinstry, Dingler smartly ran on the grass, causing first baseman Troy Johnston to double-clutch his throw to second.

Dingler was still out on the force, but McKinstry was able to beat the relay.

McKinstry then dashed to third on a ground ball that hit off second baseman Maximo Acosta’s glove, which put him in position to score on Torres’ sacrifice fly.

Rookie Troy Melton, who took over for Charlie Morton in the fifth, gave the Tigers a sturdy three innings of work. The only blemish, which happened to tie the score, was a misbegotten 2-0 cutter that Johnston drove 434 feet into the seats in right-center.

It might've been a small step in the right direction for Morton, but it was grind, nevertheless.

For the third straight outing, he battled to command his pitches and get into advantageous counts. It cost him a run and shortened his outing considerably.

He walked four hitters and needed 76 pitches to complete four innings. But he won three critical at-bats to keep the damage to two runs.

He put himself in harm’s way with a balk in the first inning.

Agustin Ramirez doubled with one out and went to third on an error by catcher Dingler. Dingler made an outstanding block on a ball in the dirt and he came up firing to second base. But his throw sailed into center field, allowing the slow-footed Ramirez to advance.

Otto Lopez drove him home with a two-out single. As Lopez danced off first base, Morton threw over three times trying to pick him off. When the third attempt failed, the balk was called.

Morton rendered it moot, though, getting Heriberto Hernandez to ground out.

In the second inning, Morton fell behind five straight hitters. He ended up walking two and giving up an RBI double to No. 9 hitter Sanoja. There were still two runners on when he struck out the dangerous Ramirez to end the inning.

It ended up being a 28-pitch inning and Morton was already at 46 pitches.

He walked two more, both with two outs, in the third inning, but escaped getting Acosta to ground out.

He left the game tied, 2-2, after a clean fourth inning.