DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers open a three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Friday night at Comerica Park, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. ET and Keider Montero taking the mound for the home team. Chris Paddack is scheduled to start for Miami in the opener.
The matchup comes with Detroit trying to stop a five-game losing streak and regroup after losing nine of its last 11 games. Montero enters at 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, while Paddack is also 0-1 but carries an 8.31 ERA into the game.
For the Tigers, the series is a chance to steady a season that has already swung sharply in both directions. They began the 2026 campaign with a strong opening series, then won a home series from the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend before being swept in four games on the road by the Minnesota Twins this week. That slide has left Detroit looking for traction at home, where the opener against Miami starts a six-game homestand that continues next Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals.
Miami arrives in better shape, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the NL East after opening the season fast enough to create an early division logjam. That is a striking turn for a club that was projected in the preseason to sit near the bottom of the standings, and it gives this series a different edge than a typical April visit.
The tension for Detroit is plain: the Tigers have shown enough to win a home series, but not enough yet to hold momentum. Saturday afternoon brings Jack Flaherty back on the mound for the second game of the set, and the next few days will show whether the Tigers can turn a rough stretch into something more durable in front of their home crowd.
