LAKELAND, Fla. – The Detroit Tigers opened spring training at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday, March 13, losing 7-5 to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Detroit is 4-11 with four ties in the Grapefruit League.
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what happened
The Tigers faced right-hander Mike Clevinger.
Clevenger was a mainstay in the Cleveland Defenders’ rotation in the late 2010s, but he failed to stick in the majors over the past few seasons and eventually signed a minor league contract with the Pirates in 2026.
Against the Tigers, Clevinger allowed four walks and struck out five, but he allowed just one hit in 4⅓ innings.
Clevinger’s only hit came off Wenceel Pérez, who hit an infield single in the fifth inning. Later, Colt Keith and Jace Jung both walked to load the bases.
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The Pirates replaced Clevinger with right-handed reliever Joshua Loeschorn.
Parker Meadows took advantage of a pitching change and belted a two-run single to center field with two outs in the fifth inning, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 6-2.
It was a much-needed blow to Meadows.
Set off
Right-hander Casey Mize is making his fourth appearance this spring.
The 28-year-old threw 67 pitches over three-plus innings, allowing six runs on six hits, four walk-offs and two strikeouts. The Tigers took advantage of spring training reentry rules and ejected him with two outs in the second inning, then sent him back to the mound for the third inning.
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Miz is still working on locking in his technique.
“I had mechanical issues. Something was wrong,” Mize said. “I’m looking forward to chatting with Robin [Lund] and Fett [Chris Fetter] Figure out what’s going on. I just feel like my time hasn’t come yet. I have to figure this out. “
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize during spring training at TigerTown on Friday, February 20, 2026 in Lakeland, Florida.
All four of his at-bats came in the first two innings, including three in the second inning when five batters reached base. He walked a total of eight times to Alika Williams and Jake Mangum.
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The Pirates led 1-0 when Mangum loaded the bases.
In the third inning, Jhostynxon Garcia hit a two-run home run off Mize’s slider to center field, generating an exit velocity of 108.5 mph. Mize got out of a worrisome start in the fourth inning when he allowed back-to-back singles to Mangum and Tyler Callihan with one out.
“It’s important for me to feel good going into Arizona. [against the Diamondbacks],” Mize said, referring to the second series of the regular season, preceded by two spring games. “But I’m not going to panic. It’s spring training and I’m working on some things. “
on the plate
The Tigers added three runs in the seventh.
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But this is too little, too late.
In the seventh inning, Woody Harding (single), Seth Stephenson (walk) and Jack Penny (walk) loaded the bases with two outs. From that point on, the Tigers took advantage of the Buccaneers’ defensive errors, scoring one run on a wild pitch and two runs on a fielding error.
However, the Pirates retired their final seven batters.
First baseman Spencer Torkelson was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .160 in 10 games; left fielder Riley Greene was 0-for-3 in 10 games, dropping his batting average to .208; top prospect Kevin McGonigle was 0-for-2 with one walk, leaving him at 13 The average hitting percentage in games is 0.280.
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on the mound
Right-hander Brenan Hanifee replaced Mize with a corner runner and one out in the fourth inning.
Hanifee struck out MLB’s top prospect Connor Griffin on four pitches, and Griffin hit three straight-center sinkers in the second inning. He had a chance to get out of the jam, but instead took a ball-carrying error from Joey Bart and scored on an infield single to give the Pirates a 5-0 victory.
To make matters worse, the error meant Hanifi had to face left-handed hitter Endy Rodriguez.
Here’s why this matters: In 2025, right-handed hitters (like Griffin and Butt) hit Hanifee with a .549 OPS and hit .220, while left-handed hitters (like Rodriguez) hit .373 with a .995 OPS.
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Rodriguez took advantage of the opportunity, sending Hanifee’s changeup to right field for an RBI single, extending the Pirates’ lead to 6-0. In this game, Butt was hit out of home plate on a pitch initiated by right fielder Carey Carpenter and tagged by catcher Jack Rogers.
After Hanifee, right-handed reliever Bob Blisk pitched a scoreless fifth inning and left-handed reliever Tyler Holton pitched a scoreless sixth inning. The two combined to retire six of seven batters, and Blisk issued a two-out walk in the fifth inning.
Both of Hanifee’s runs on the mound were accounted for by Mize.
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three stars
1. Meadows, 2. Holden, 3. Blisk.
Next
Saturday (1:07 p.m., Detroit SportsNet/MLB Network) against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ Casey Mize ‘won’t panic’ after latest game