Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers

The Tigers took the field Tuesday night on a three-game losing streak with Trade Deadline rumors simmering and pundits increasingly branding them as sellers. Players said goodbye to longtime catcher and informal team leader Jake Rogers Monday night, and have to prepare for what could be Tarik Skubal’s final start as a Tiger on Wednesday afternoon. Even Monday’s runaway squirrel couldn’t get much of a laugh out of them. They needed to take out some frustration. They needed to have a little fun. They needed a catharsis. “They say stick around, you’ll see something you’ve never seen before,” manager A.J. Hinch said after a 14-0 win over the Orioles at Comerica Park. “Man, that was quite a night. I mean, we were relentless.” The Tigers became the second team since 1900 to score in every inning they batted and not allow a run in that game, joining the Pirates (Sept. 6, 1935 vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers), per Elias Sports Bureau. As Baltimore catcher turned pitcher Chadwick Tromp’s curveball floated in at 35 mph, about the speed of traffic on nearby Woodward Avenue, Eduardo Valencia waited patiently. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Tigers' No. 11 prospect and a veteran of well over 400 Minor League games before making his big league debut on July 9, Valencia has seen plenty of position players pitching at various levels. He’s not going to worry about timing. “I have a lot of troubles in the Minor Leagues against position players,” Valencia said. The pitch was well over Valencia’s head when he began his front leg lift. It was right around helmet level when his front foot landed, and just below shoulder level when he unleashed his swing. Valencia crushed it down the line. The 96.8 mph exit velocity was all swing. The 35-degree launch angle looked like something out of a driving range. Heads turned in unison in the Tigers dugout as the ball cleared the fence in the left-field corner. “I think it’s my first extra-base hit against a position player,” Valencia said. “It’s crazy, but at the end of the day, that counts.”