Detroit Tigers, Game 42: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't

The News' Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers' 10-2 loss to the Mets on Tuesday:

One thing I loved

BUT ... can Kevin McGonigle play defense?!?!

"Yes," his good pal, Max Clark, told me a few weeks back, with a smile. "He can play defense."

No kidding. McGonigle is in the early rookie-of-the-year conversation in the American League because of his bat (he's hitting .300 with two more hits Tuesday, with a .403 on-base percentage), but the glove and the arm have been just as impressive. He made a couple more spectacular plays at shortstop Tuesday night, including this gem:

That one, very Derek Jeter-esque, kept the game tied in the third inning — back when, you know, it was actually a game. McGonigle had another impressive play earlier, nearly starting an improbable inning-ending double play.

McGonigle began the season playing mostly third base. But with the Parker Meadows injury, Javier Baez moved out to center field, shifting McGonigle to short — where he's had some hiccups, but a whole lot of highlights, too.

Yes, McGonigle can, in fact, play defense. That makes him quite the outlier on this Tigers team.

One thing I didn't

Nobody thought these Tigers would be the second coming of Murders' Row. But we probably (and perhaps, naively?) expected a bit more pop than this. The Tigers entered the series opener with the Mets with 37 homers, bottom third in baseball. And they're only that high up the food chain (tied for 22nd) because of one seven-game surge, aided, in part, by a three-game series at the bandbox that is Great American Band Box in .