Spencer Torkelson and the Detroit Tigers had plenty of opportunities to make a statement on the West Coast. But after three games filled with stranded runners and missed chances, they left Los Angeles with nothing to show for it. Saturday night’s 7-3 loss completed a three-game sweep by the defending champion Dodgers—and the frustration was written all over the faces in the Tigers’ clubhouse.

For the third straight night, Detroit put themselves in position to flip the script. The offense pushed across two early runs and finished the night 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, continuing a troubling theme that loomed over the entire series. The Tigers were just 4-for-32 in those situations over the three-game set.

Spencer Torkelson Keeps It Real

While many Tigers bats went cold, Spencer Torkelson delivered one of his strongest performances of the young season. Over the three games, he hit .444 (4-for-9), crushed a home run, and reached base nine times in total with five walks, posting a staggering 1.532 OPS. But despite his personal success, Torkelson wasn’t in the mood to sugarcoat the outcome.

“There is not a single hole in their lineup,” Torkelson said after Saturday’s finale. “There’s not a single arm in the pen or a single starting pitcher you can take for granted. They are a really good team and we had opportunities. A couple of pitches every night going our way on both sides of the ball and we’re winning this series.

“But it still sucks. We got swept.”

The Bottom Line

The Tigers left Los Angeles without a win, but not without a wake-up call. As the season moves forward, they’ll need to cash in on the chances they create—because as this series showed, good teams don’t let those moments slip away. Spencer Torkelson may have said it best: no excuses, just unfinished business.