The Josh Innes Show - Detroit Tigers Remarkable Collapse

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

On July 8th, the Tigers were up 15.5 games on the Cleveland GuardIndians. Today, they are tied. Last night, I watched an inning that I may never see again. The good news for the Tigers? The Astros are also cratering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. Well, it's the one week out of the year that the regular season of baseball matters. Actually, to be fair, the opening week of baseball season matters.

And I guess sort of the All-Star game matters, sort of. But this is the week where you get some division races and things are relatively interesting. I'm in Detroit where we are witnessing arguably the greatest collapse in the history of baseball. If you're not following, the Detroit Tigers on July 8th, when I moved here, fittingly, July 8th, they were 14 games ahead of the second place team in the AL Central, who I think was the Royals at the time, I think. And they were 15 and a half games up on the Guard Indians of Cleveland. That was on July 8th. Today is September 24th. And on September 24th, that is a tied division race.

and if the season ended today, Detroit would be the third wild card. They were the team with the best record in the American League like two weeks ago. They have lost nine of their last 10 games. They are free-falling. It is remarkable what we are seeing. This is history we are watching. And they're doing it in incredible ways. Let's take a break and we will continue.

It's one thing to blow a division league. and a lot of things have to be wacky and a lot of crazy things have to happen for you to blow a 15 and a half game lead in the last two months or so of the season. But if you want a more remarkable number, 19 days ago, 19 days ago, this was an 11 game lead in the division. So in less than three weeks, an 11 game lead has disappeared from the Detroit Tigers. This is something that is remarkable, and you may not be seeing it if you're not following closely to Detroit Tigers or American League Central Baseball. And I can understand why you wouldn't because who gives a shit. It's a bad division and who cares. But we've never seen anything like this.

Like the closest thing I can recall in my history is watching the Braves blow the wild card to the Cardinals in 2011. But even that wasn't this. We're talking a division lead on July 8th, 15 and a half games up on the Guardians. last night they were up to nothing now mind you they've they've had some real disasters like Charlie Morton got beaten so bad on Friday that against the Braves that they DFAed him he was crying after the game yeah like I think that Charlie Morton thought his life was over as a baseball pitcher after that it was so bad that Charlie Morton was crying by his locker after the game they DFAed him on Sunday the beat down was so bad but even at that

time they were still up like three, four games. Like, okay, you're fine. Saturday, they have a ninth inning lead against the Braves and blow it like on a wild pitch and lose the game. Yesterday may have topped them all. Like yesterday is a game that only happens to a team that's reeling and is just not meant for success. So this game is a two nothing game with Terrick scubel on the mound. Now, Terrick Scoobel's probably going to win the American League Cy Young. that's fair to say. He's one of the best pitchers in baseball. And at some point, Terrick Scoobel's going to end up being, you know, making $400 million for the Dodgers, the Mets, or somebody that can pay a guy $400 million. Like nobody in Detroit sees him as long

for Detroit because Detroit's never going to pay that kind of cash. Terrick Scuba, they're calling on him with a one-game lead now. This was the situation. They were up one game on the Cleveland Guardians with a three-game series against the Guardians looming. And that started yesterday. They moved Terrick Scoobel up to pitch yesterday just in case they need him to pitch a game at the end of the year to get into the playoffs, which they were hoping wasn't going to be the case. And had they won last night, it would not have been the case more than likely because they would have been two up with five to go. And you feel pretty good about your chances. They're up to nothing.

And we go to the bottom of the sixth. And it all starts with Stephen Kwan, who is one of the most underrated players. Like if you're someone who doesn't follow the game, you're probably like Stephen Kwan big deal. If you're someone who follows the game at all, you know that Stephen Kwan is a do-everything fucking guy who is a monster. He can hit for power. He can lay down a bunt. He plays a nasty outfit. Like, the guy does it all very well.

That's why the Guard Indians, even though they were in cell mode at the deadline, we're like, no, we'll keep Kwan. He's not Albert Puhols or anything, but he's a great player. The inning starts with Stephen Kwan dropping down a bunt for a hit. So they're down two nothing, bottom of the six, no harm, no foul. lead off bunt single. Next guy comes up. It's Angel Martinez. He lays down a bunt up the first base line.

Terrick Scoobble inexplicably picks it up and snaps the ball. He's facing home plate. Snaps the ball between his legs to the first baseman. Globetrotter and one banana ball shit. Mark Burley Bartolo Cologne shit. which when it hits is the coolest thing ever. When you airmail it into right field

and allow for runners to be at second and third, nobody out in a two-run game, it is not cool as shit. But okay, fine, not the end of the world. There's two on. There's runners at second and third. Should have been runners at first and second. Instead, now the tying runs at second base with nobody out.

Jose Ramirez, giant power threat comes up. In-field single scores a run to make it two to one. A ball has not left the infield at this point in this inning. The only ball that left the infield was because it was snapped over the head of the first baseman by Scoobel. Next guy comes up, it's David Fry. He bunts a ball 100 miles per hour off his face. There's a delay in the game he's bleeding because he bunted a ball off his face.

Scoobal thought he had killed the guy. But it's a foul ball fine. It's two strikes. They take him out. He has to come out because he got blood gushy. from his face because he just took a foul ball off his face. So now you've got Fry at the plate, now not at the plate. They have to bring in a pinch hitter, George Valera.

With Valera at the plate and a runner at third, with a runner at first and third, nobody out, scoble uncorks a wild pitch that scores the run to make it two to two. Other runner moves to second. the pinch hitter for the guy that got hit in the face strikes out so you have a runner at third and you have a runner at first no you just have a runner at third at this point score is tied at two you got one out actually I think there's a runner at first in this situation as well I think or a runner at second a lot of shit was happening all right so you end up with a runner at third most importantly there is a runner at third base in this

spot. One out. Sorry, take that back. The runner is balked to third. So there's a runner at second. That's the go-ahead run with one out. He is balked to third. Then an infield grounder is hit to the first basement and a run scores. It is now three to two. Then they get out of the inning with a strikeout.

So in that inning, Terrick Scoobel, the Cy Young Award winner, gives up a bun single, snaps a ball between his legs that goes into the outfield. There's a guy that gets hit in the face with a 90-mile-per-hour pitch off his bat. Face, it has to leave the game. There's a wild pitch. There's a balk. There's an infield hit. And that is a recipe for going from the number one team in the American League.

to be in a team that currently sits in the third wild card. They're going from a buy and home field throughout the playoffs to having to travel, currently with five games to go, having to travel for a series, a best two out of three. And not only that, they have been bailed out by the Astros who have been almost, not equally as shitty, but the Astros have also been very shitty. But at no point during this season did anybody view the Astros as like the cock of the walk type of team.

Detroit was on top of the mountain almost all year. You know, the Astros have been up, they've been down. No one views the Astros is like, you know, your old school Astros. They've had a ton of injuries. Like, no one looks at them and goes, boy, this Astros team, they're special. Nobody does that. They're a mess. People looked at Detroit two months ago as, holy shit, they're going to win 110 games.

So if not for Houston losing again, and now they've lost four. in a row, Detroit would be out of the playoffs altogether, and it is remarkable. And Detroit also has to face Boston at the end of the year. There are no layups, because everybody's playing for something this week. And now you've used scoobel, the best pitch you have, and you've got a bunch of bums after scoble, and you can't hit. I have never seen anything like this. I'm not here to break down American League Central Baseball on the podcast.

but baseball more so than any other sport is one of those sports where hey if you come to the ballpark you might just see something you've never seen before like usually go to a basketball game that's not the case football game but baseball you just may see something you've never seen before this was like an angels in the outfield inning like when uh when christopher lloyd is like kicking the ball around and shit and all the players are trying to chase it and everybody's like how the hell is that ball moving that way that's what that inning felt like and like it must be it must feel like you can't do anything right like at this point you must be sitting in the dugout waiting for something bad to happen because they had just hit a home run to go up to nothing they're feeling pretty good scubel's pitching he's pitched well and then an infield bun single and then it all turned when instead of just eating the ball and saying all right they've got runners at first and second that sucks but whatever my man snaps the ball between his legs air mails the first baseman ball ball goes into right field they're at second and third and we're off and they end up losing the game

five to two by the way they give up a couple more runs later in the game it must feel like and like you know how that is when you feel like the whole world's against you and like everything that can go wrong will go wrong you know a murphy's law type of thing where you just feel like it's never going to get better you know like in those times that i've been suspended and like you're getting this onslaught of criticism and hate on social media you feel like it is never going to end And even though you're not the only person people are criticizing in the world that day, it feels that way and it feels like you're never going to come out of it, that must be what it feels like to be the Detroit Tigers right now. Like, you must feel like there's no way and get out of this. Like it's never going in.

And you're sitting in the dugout and you have to be thinking in the back of your mind, how are we going to fuck this up today? But what's wild about all this, and A.J. Hinge continues to point this out is, well, we're still in first place. We control our own destiny. and they do. They win the next two games. They're two games up on Cleveland with three to go. I don't believe they will at this point, but it's wild to think that. But we pour one out for our departed homie. The 15 and a half game league, we may see the most historic collapse in the history of baseball. Keep your eyes on that.