All-Star pitcher Kyle Gibson has owned the American League this year -- but the Tigers have owned him.
Detroit beat Gibson for his second consecutive start in a 14-0 blowout of Texas on Monday, after Gibson had gone unbeaten in his first 16 starts of the season.
The Rangers' veteran right-hander carried an AL-leading 1.98 ERA and .202 batting average against into his last start before the All-Star break July 7 against the Tigers. They tagged him for five runs on eight hits. They got him again in his first start after the break, this time for eight runs on 10 hits.
Gibson now has a 10.32 ERA and a .375 batting average against versus the Tigers, who have raised his season ERA by nearly a full run to 2.86. All the more surprising considering Detroit ranks in the bottom half of the majors in runs scored.
"Credit to those guys," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "Honestly, they're feeling a lot better, their hitters. They only struck our four times and had a lot of two-strike counts where they're fighting and grinding."
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The big blows on Monday were delivered by Akil Baddoo, who opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the third, and Miguel Cabrera, who delivered a bases-clearing double in the fifth.
"I honestly don't know how to explain this," Gibson said afterward. "They've got some good veteran hitters — I've been facing Miggy since I was in Minnesota — but this isn't indicative of how I've pitched this year. Maybe they are just ahead of me in the scouting report, but I need to fix it."
Gibson has fared well against Cabrera over his career, limiting the future Hall of Famer to a .721 OPS. But Monday belonged to Miggy, who also hit a two-run single off Brett Martin in the sixth to move into a tie with David Ortiz on the list of all-time RBI leaders. Cabrera also passed Rogers Hornsby to take over No. 39 for all-time hits. Barry Bonds is just four hits away.
"These are big moments for Miggy personally, and for our organization and our fanbase," said A.J. Hinch. "He's given so much to this franchise and continues to remind us in special ways. You can go your whole career and not see things like this, so you have to soak it up as a team -- and certainly very appreciative of the fans that are locked in on the Miggy race."
Cabrera's sixth-inning single was part of a stretch in which the first nine batters of the inning safely reached base, the first time that's happened in the majors since 2018 -- and the first time for the Tigers since 2001. Naturally, Gibson was responsible for the first two batters. He has a WHIP of 1.94 against Detroit this season and 1.04 against everyone else.
We can't explain it either.
