Kevin McGonigle begins his career with 4 hits in Tigers’ 8-2 win over Padres on opening day

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kevin McGonigle got four hits and drove in two runs in his auspicious major league debut during the Detroit Tigers’ 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

The 21-year-old McGonigle hit a two-run double with the bases loaded on the first big league pitch he saw in the first inning. He had a second double and an infield single while scoring two runs in his next two at-bats, and added a single in the ninth.

McGonigle finished 4 for 5 while batting sixth and playing third base. After just 46 games last season in Double-A, the multi-position infielder made Detroit’s major league roster with an undeniably strong spring, skipping Triple-A entirely.

Two-time AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal (1-0) pitched six innings of three-hit ball with six strikeouts in his third straight opening day start for Detroit, allowing only an unearned run.

Dillon Dingler homered and drove in three runs while Detroit jumped to an 8-0 lead in the fifth inning and cruised to its 12th win on opening day in the last 15 seasons.

Xander Bogaerts hit an RBI double off Skubal in the sixth inning of a rough opener for rookie manager Craig Stammen and the Padres, who are coming off only the second back-to-back playoff appearances in franchise history. Stammen, the former Padres reliever, replaced Mike Shildt.

Nick Pivetta (0-1) lasted just three innings in his first career opening day start, struggling through a 33-pitch first inning and getting the hook after yielding six runs on seven hits and three walks.

Spencer Torkelson drew a bases-loaded walk from Pivetta right before McGonigle’s first-pitch double.

McGonigle then lined a 105.9-mph double off the right-field wall in the third, barely beating Fernando Tatis Jr.’s throw to second. He scored his first big league run moments later on Parker Meadows’ single.

Ramón Laureano homered in the seventh for San Diego. Nick Castellanos flied out to center with the bases loaded to end the eighth in his Padres debut.

Up next

Longtime Astros ace Framber Valdez (13-11, 3.66 ERA) debuts for the Tigers on Friday after signing a $115 million free-agent deal last month. The Padres send out Michael King (5-3, 3.44 ERA), who re-signed on a $75 million deal after a solid but injury-plagued 2025.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb