WATCH: Squirrel wreaks havoc in the outfield on Tigers grounds crew and Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras

The Orioles beat the Tigers 8-5 on Monday, but the real story of the night was a squirrel that decided to make Detroit its personal playground and forced a full-on stoppage while the entire Tigers grounds crew, plus Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras, tried and mostly failed to get the little furry menace off the field.

It got so drawn out that home plate umpire Bill Miller actually asked the crowd for a round of applause for the grounds crew, which is the kind of thing that only happens when a squirrel is winning a battle against multiple grown professionals in front of a packed stadium.

Took the entire Tigers grounds crew and Orioles’ Leody Taveras to remove the squirrel

Most entertaining part of the season tbh pic.twitter.com/23gLX4m2VK

— Dr. RJ Bobo Bocco (@rjboccomino) July 28, 2026

The Effort Was Bad, but I Understand Why

Watching the entire grounds crew fumble around trying to corral one squirrel was not a highlight of human coordination but I also get it, and here’s the thing that everyone was probably thinking while watching.

You just know that grounds crew wanted to smash that squirrel into the outfield grass, right? In any other context, if that squirrel showed up in your yard, the response would be swift and decisive. You either jump on that squirrel or put forth an effort that makes it clear only one of you would be leaving the ballpark alive.

I know, it sounds bad but that’s just the truth. Deal with it.

That’s obviously not an option when you’re standing on a Major League field with an entire stadium of people watching you and the national broadcast has its cameras locked in on your every move. You can’t be the guy who drop-kicks a squirrel into left-center on live television. That’s a career-ender and probably a PETA situation.

So instead you get the overly cautious, tip-toeing, “please little buddy just cooperate” version of squirrel removal, where everyone is being gentle and careful precisely because they can’t do what would actually be fast and effective.

When you have to pretend to care about the squirrel’s wellbeing while a stadium watches, you end up being overly delicate, and that’s exactly why the whole thing took forever and looked so clumsy. Bad effort, sure, but it’s the kind of bad effort that comes from having your hands tied by circumstance.

The Bigger Story Is What’s Happening to the Tigers

The squirrel was the fun part, but the loss itself is a much bigger deal, because Detroit is in free fall. With the loss to the Orioles, the Tigers dropped their third straight and fell to 50-57, and they’re doing it in the most painful way imaginable.

Detroit now leads all of MLB with 17 blown leads after the sixth inning, which is a staggering number and a sign of a team whose bullpen and late-game execution have completely fallen apart. They’re sliding further and further out of the AL Wild Card race with every one of these losses.

That collapse has put a giant spotlight on Tarik Skubal.

Skubal Is the Deadline’s Biggest Domino

Skubal is a legitimate Cy Young contender with a 2.70 ERA, and as the Tigers keep losing and keep falling out of contention, the trade rumors around him are heating up with the deadline a week away.

A pitcher of Skubal’s caliber becoming even theoretically available changes the entire complexion of the deadline, because he’s the exact kind of top-of-the-rotation arm that contenders would empty their farm systems for.

You know where I’m going with this…

The Phillies need a front-line starter, they’ve got a window that’s open right now, and I’ve been saying all week that they should burn the farm to land a difference-maker. Skubal at 2.70 with Cy Young stuff is about as big a difference-maker as exists in the sport. If Detroit actually decides to sell, and their recent play suggests they might have to consider it, the Phillies should be one of the first teams calling.

Whether the Tigers actually move their ace is a huge question, and pitchers like Skubal don’t hit the market often but a 50-57 team leading the league in blown leads and sliding out of the playoff picture is exactly the kind of team that has to at least listen, and the Phillies should be listening right back.

The Squirrel Won the Night, but Skubal Is the Story

So Monday gave us a viral squirrel, a hilariously overmatched grounds crew, a solid pun from the Orioles’ social team, and an umpire asking for applause. Great content all around but underneath the comedy is a Tigers team falling apart and an ace whose name is going to dominate the next week of deadline chatter.

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