Dingler homers for 3rd straight game, helping Tigers to an 11-0 win over the Mariners

SEATTLE (AP) — Dillon Dingler homered for the third straight game and finished with three hits and three RBIs as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Seattle Mariners 11-0 Thursday.

Detroit (56-59) won for the fifth time in six games and moved within a game of Texas in the race for the final American League wild-card spot. The Tigers have scored at least eight runs or more in seven of their last eight games.

The loss dropped Seattle (56-60) three games behind Houston in the AL West and 1 1/2 games out of the wild card. The Mariners, held scoreless for the second time in the series against Detroit, have been shut out 11 times this season, tied for most in the majors.

Framber Valdez limited the Mariners to five hits in seven innings and didn't allow a run for the first time since June 16. He struck out five, walked two and didn't allow a runner past second base. In his last four outings, Valdez has allowed four runs in 19 innings.

Kyle Finnegan worked the eighth inning and Brenan Hanifee worked the ninth and closed out the shutout.

Dingler's 401-foot homer off Bryce Miller (4-6) in the first was his 26th of the season and most among AL catchers.

Miller needed 40 pitches to get through the first inning. Colt Keith’s RBI double gave Detroit an early 3-0 lead.

Miller settled down, pitching five innings and allowing four runs in five hits with five strikeouts.

Kevin McGonigle hit his 12th homer of the season – a two-run blast off Cole Wilcox in the seventh. Keith added an RBI single. McGonigle and Javier Báez each had two hits and two RBIs.

Mariners outfielder Victor Robles pitched the ninth and allowed thee runs on five hits.

Tigers RHP Keider Montero (8-6, 3.17 ERA) starts a series in San Francisco on Friday. The Giants have not named a starter.

Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (8-6, 3.46 ERA) gets the start against visiting Tampa Bay and RHP Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.91).

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Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Brenan Hanifee, facing, greets catcher Dillon Dingler as they celebrate a win over the Seattle Mariners in a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller walks back to the dugout after the third inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez throws against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Detroit Tigers' Dillon Dingler hits an RBI single to score Kevin McGonigle against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A man charged with starting one of the wildfires in Spokane, Washington, that have destroyed hundreds of buildings planned the crime for weeks and researched when the weather would be best for igniting it, police said.

Aaron Farinacci expressed that “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth," Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau said in a court filing Wednesday, recalling his interview with him.

Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails Fire, one of three fires in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 homes and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. He is also charged in connection with two smaller fires ignited in the summer of 2025.

He was scheduled to be arraigned on three first-degree arson charges Thursday, but his lawyer asked for a competency evaluation before he enters a plea. Spokane Superior Court Judge Jeremy Schmidt said he would review that request. He set bond for $2 million, ruling that Farinacci was a risk to community safety, a flight risk and that there was potential for a violent offense.

Defense attorney Colin Charbonneau did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Farinacci denied starting the fire when police initially contacted him, but during an interview with Drapeau, he confessed to the current fire as well as others last year. That led to the two additional arson charges.

He told the detective that he always carries marijuana or cigarettes so he would have a legitimate reason to have a lighter and matches.

“He knows arson is an easy crime to get away from if you have time, and he had time,” Drapeau said.

Farinacci researched the weather to predict a day that would have “high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat” for starting the Old Trails Fire, Drapeau said. He also looked up the work of a well-known serial arsonist and purchased items to make a “time delay device” for igniting a wildfire, using notebook paper, matches, a cigarette and a rubber band, the detective said.

Farinacci picked Saturday, Aug. 1, to start the fire because he knew there would be strong winds — reaching 50 mph (80 kph), the detective said.

Farinacci said he knew it "'was gonna get bad,’” the detective said, but Farinacci claimed he didn’t intend it to grow as much as it did.

Paul Child, 64, has been credited with leading police to Farinacci. He was driving with his grandson along some railroad tracks when he saw a man standing there and looking toward nearby trees. About 10 minutes later, the man was still there.

“He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous,” Child told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.”

Drapeau said Farinacci also admitted responsibility for 25 fires near his apartment building in summer 2025. Most were near the Spokane River or the Centennial Trail.

Farinacci said he didn't think the Aubrey White Fire that ignited on July 6, 2025, would cause damage but "one house got ‘slightly damaged’ from the side,” the detective said. That blaze started near the Centennial Trail and soon became a large wildfire that threatened homes and structures, the court filing said. It led to evacuations and road closures. An investigation determined it was caused by arson, but police didn't have any suspects.

The Aubrey White Fire was added to the charges against Farinacci, as was the Meenach Fire, the court filing states.

Farinacci served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Mesa, Arizona, in 2010. He also shot himself at that time but survived. He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in 2012 to manslaughter and aggravated assault. Farinacci’s lawyer repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health during the case.

Drapeau said Farinacci indicated that he moved to the Copper River Apartments in the Spokane area in October 2022.

A son was born in 2025 and “he began having trouble dealing with life issues," the detective said. "He began smoking marijuana at about this time.”

Scorched trees stand over the remains of Riverside Real Life church Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A burned truck sits in a driveway near several destroyed homes in a residential neighborhood Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Crews work near several burned down houses after a wildfire hit the northwest part of Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A burned section of trees is marked with pink tape Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in an area near the origin point of the Old Trails Fire, after a man was arrested, suspected of starting the wildfire in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)