03/26/26 06:05:00
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03/26 18:04 CDT Kevin McGonigle begins his career with 4 hits in Tigers' 8-2
win over Padres on opening day
Kevin McGonigle begins his career with 4 hits in Tigers' 8-2 win over Padres on
opening day
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) --- Kevin McGonigle got four hits and drove in two runs in his
auspicious major league debut during the Detroit Tigers' 8-2 victory over the
San Diego Padres on Thursday.
The 21-year-old McGonigle hit a two-run double with the bases loaded on the
first big league pitch he saw in the first inning. He had a second double and
an infield single while scoring two runs in his next two at-bats, and added a
single in the ninth.
McGonigle finished 4 for 5 while batting sixth and playing third base. After
just 46 games last season in Double-A, the multi-position infielder made
Detroit's major league roster with an undeniably strong spring, skipping
Triple-A entirely.
Two-time AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal (1-0) pitched six innings of
three-hit ball with six strikeouts in his third straight opening day start for
Detroit, allowing only an unearned run.
Dillon Dingler homered and drove in three runs while Detroit jumped to an 8-0
lead in the fifth inning and cruised to its 12th win on opening day in the last
15 seasons.
Xander Bogaerts hit an RBI double off Skubal in the sixth inning of a rough
opener for rookie manager Craig Stammen and the Padres, who are coming off only
the second back-to-back playoff appearances in franchise history. Stammen, the
former Padres reliever, replaced Mike Shildt.
Nick Pivetta (0-1) lasted just three innings in his first career opening day
start, struggling through a 33-pitch first inning and getting the hook after
yielding six runs on seven hits and three walks.
Spencer Torkelson drew a bases-loaded walk from Pivetta right before
McGonigle's first-pitch double.
McGonigle then lined a 105.9-mph double off the right-field wall in the third,
barely beating Fernando Tatis Jr.'s throw to second. He scored his first big
league run moments later on Parker Meadows' single.
Ramn Laureano homered in the seventh for San Diego. Nick Castellanos flied out
to center with the bases loaded to end the eighth in his Padres debut.
Up next
Longtime Astros ace Framber Valdez (13-11, 3.66 ERA) debuts for the Tigers on
Friday after signing a $115 million free-agent deal last month. The Padres send
out Michael King (5-3, 3.44 ERA), who re-signed on a $75 million deal after a
solid but injury-plagued 2025.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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