Former Central Michigan left-hander Dietrich Enns pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays in September 2021, traveled overseas to Japan and Korea for the next three years, returned to the United States in hopes of an MLB return and joined the Detroit Tigers on a minor league contract in January 2025.

The Tigers promoted the 34-year-old from Triple-A Toledo to start Thursday, June 26, against the Athletics at Comerica Park — his first MLB game in 1,371 days.

Enns guided the Tigers to a 8-0 win over the Athletics, completing five scoreless innings on one hit and two walks allowed with four strikeouts in his 77-pitch performance. He tossed more than four innings for the first time in his 12-game MLB career, including two games in 2017 and nine games in 2021.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Dietrich Enns (51) pitches in the first inning against the Athletics at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

The Tigers (51-31) supported Enns — and won the rubber match of the three-game series — with home runs from Spencer Torkelson and Gleyber Torres.

But Enns set the tone from the first inning.

He retired the first three Athletics on eight pitches: Jacob Wilson on a flyout, Brent Rooker on a groundout and Nick Kurtz on a swinging strikeout.

Enns had just one stressful inning.

It was the third, when Max Schuemann hit a leadoff single and Denzel Clarke drew a five-pitch walk.

Instead of falling apart, Enns won a seven-pitch battle with Wilson for a flyout, which put runners on the corners, then got Rooker to ground into an inning-ending double play with back-to-back changeups at the bottom of the strike zone.

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Everything else seemed easy in the other innings.

Enns retired the final eight batters he faced.

For Enns’ 77 pitches, he used 37 four-seam fastballs, 23 changeups, eight cutters, seven curveballs and two sinkers. He generated 13 whiffs on 42 swings for a 31% whiff rate, thanks to seven fastballs, five changeups and one sinker. His fastball averaged 93.1 mph — and maxed out at 94.5 mph.

Not only did Enns miss bats, but he also limited hard contact and kept the ball on the ground. The Athletics averaged an 81.4 mph exit velocity on their 11 balls in play.

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Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres go long

The Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Torkelson hit a solo home run to left-center off left-hander Jeffery Springs — his first homer since June 10 (and his third homer in June). The 25-year-old hit just .111 with five walks and 10 strikeouts in 10 games between homers.

He has 17 homers in 76 games.

Detroit Tigers first base Spencer Torkelson (20) hits a home run in the first inning against the Athletics at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

A two-run double from Jahmai Jones extended the Tigers’ lead to 3-0 in the third inning.

In the seventh, Torres hit a two-run home run off right-handed reliever J.T. Ginn, making it 5-0.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers get gem from Dietrich Enns in 8-0 win over Athletics

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