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Detroit Tigers' offense musters 2 hits in 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay Rays: Game thread recap

Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press
·3 min read
3

Game 3: Detroit Tigers (0-2) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (2-0)

When: 1:10 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates).

Probable starting pitchers: Tigers LHP Joey Wentz (2-2, 3.03 ERA in 2022) vs. Rays LHP Jeffrey Springs (9-5, 2.46 ERA in 2022).

• BOX SCORE

Tigers lineup:

1. Matt Vierling (RF)

2. Riley Greene (CF)

3. Javier Báez (SS)

4. Austin Meadows (LF)

5. Spencer Torkelson (1B)

6. Nick Maton (3B)

7. Miguel Cabrera (DH)

8. Jonathan Schoop (2B)

9. Jake Rogers (C)

UPDATE: The Tigers failed to get a hit off Rays starter Jeffrey Springs in six innings, but Riley Greene's infield single in the seventh off a reliever kept the Tigers out of the record books.

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Game notes: The Tigers wrap up their opening series against the Rays with a matinee at Tropicana Field today, looking to avoid a sweep after dropping the first two games by a combined score of 16-2. (Perhaps it’s revenge for the Tampa Bay area’s other pro team playing right now, as the Red Wings lead the season series against the Lightning, 2-1 in games and 11-9 in aggregate goals, with the fourth game set for April 13.) The Tigers haven’t been swept by the Rays at the Trop since 2018, though it has happened in five seasons overall: 2002, 2008, 2010 (four games!), 2017 and 2018.

It may not get better for the Tigers today, either, as the Rays send lefty Jeffrey Springs to the mound; the 30-year-old from North Carolina baffled the Tigers last season in his lone start against them, allowing just four hits and two runs (both unearned) with six strikeouts over six innings on Aug. 4, 2022. Springs threw 60 of his 85 pitches that day at Comerica Park for strikes, including six whiffs with his changeup. Springs’ change of pace was one of baseball’s best last season; it was worth minus-12 runs, good for a tie for fifth among changeups thrown at least 10 times. (Only the changeups of Sandy Alcantara — the NL Cy Young winner — Zach Davies, Tyler Anderson and Shane McClanahan — who carved up the Tigers on Opening Day — were better in 2022.)

Tigers lefty Joey Wentz, meanwhile, hasn’t faced the Rays at all; he made seven starts for the Tigers last season, including five in September when he allowed just five earned runs over 26 innings — an ERA of 1.73 — while striking out 22 and walking 11. This spring, Wentz probably hung around the strike zone too much: he only walked six of the 68 batters he faced, while striking out 19 over 14 2/3 innings … but he allowed 20 hits (four of them homers) and 13 runs for a 7.98 ERA. (By the way, the Rays’ OPS against lefties last season, .710, was 32 points higher than that against righties.)

The road doesn’t get much easier for the Tigers after this series, as they head to Houston to face manager A.J. Hinch’s old club, the Astros, for three games on Monday-Wednesday (before returning to Detroit for Thursday's home opener vs. Boston). The defending World Series champs have won two straight after opening Thursday with a loss to the White Sox. The Rays, meanwhile, head north to Washington, where they’ll face the Nationals, MLB’s worst team by five games last season.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose to Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1: Game thread recap