Game 2 Preview: Tigers look to take series from Padres on Friday
The 2026 campaign opened with a bang for the Detroit Tigers, who slugged their way to an 8-2 victory on Thursday afternoon inside Petco Park behind a breakout effort from Kevin McGoinigle in his MLB debut. The Motor City Kitties now have a chance to clinch a series win over the Pads with their biggest offseason acquisition on the mound: left-hander Framber Valdez. The 32-year-old from the Dominican Republic had spent all eight of his previous seasons with the Houston Astros, so he will be making his first-ever appearance in a different uniform on Friday night.
Opposite him is right-hander Michael King, who opens up his third year in San Diego looking to bounce back from an injury-marred 2025 campaign that limited him to just 73 1/3 innings. His stats also ballooned following a 2024 season that saw him finish ninth in the Cy Young race. Below is a look at how the two starters match up ahead of Friday night’s battle.
Detroit Tigers (1-0) vs. San Diego Padres (0-1) Time (ET): 9:40 p. m.
ET Place: Petco Park, San Diego, California SB Nation Site: Gaslamp Ball Media: Detroit SportsNet , MLB. TV , Tigers Radio Network Game 2 : LHP Framber Valdez (0-0, 0. 00 ERA) vs.
RHP Michael King (0-0, 0. 00 ERA) * Note : Stats in the table below are Fangraphs’ 2026 projections Player G IP K% BB% ERA FIP fWAR Valdez 31 194. 0 21.