Detroit Tigers' gloves as cold as bats in 7-1 loss to Minnesota Twins: Game thread replay
Detroit Tigers (6-11) vs. Minnesota Twins (10-8)
When: 1:10 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Target Field in Minneapolis.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1) (Tigers radio affiliates).
Weather forecast: Cloudy, mid-40s.
Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (1-1, 2.30 ERA) vs. Twins RHP Bailey Ober (1-1, 2.81 ERA).
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Tigers lineup:
1. Derek Hill CF
2. Austin Meadows RF
3. Robbie Grossman DH
4. Javier Baez SS
5. Spencer Torkelson 1B
6. Harold Castro 3B
7. Jonathan Schoop 2B
8. Tucker Barnhart C
9. Willi Castro LF
Game notes: The Tigers were held to two hits on Wednesday night, which is poor even by the anemic standards their offense has set this season. The 5-0 loss to the Twins was the first time the Tigers have been shut out this season, but the 12th time they’ve scored three runs or fewer in 17 games. That's tied for second in the majors, behind only the Washington Nationals (13), who were expected to struggle.
Also entering Thursday with 12 games of three runs or fewer: an expected playoff contender (the Atlanta Braves) and an expected No. 1 overall pick contender (Arizona Diamondbacks). At 11 games? Two more expected playoff contenders (the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox) and two more expected cellar-dwellars (the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles) What does that mean for the Tigers’ playoff hopes? That probably depends on where you fall on the optimist/pessimist spectrum, but consider this: The Tigers have three wins in those low-scoring games, second-most among the eight teams discussed here.
Tigers hitters will try to warm up against Minnesota right-hander Bailey Ober, who has allowed just one earned run in 11 innings (over two starts) since giving up four in five innings to the Seattle Mariners on April 10. The second-year starter has a passing familiarity with the Tigers’ lineup, as he posted a 5.79 ERA in two starts against it last season. That includes a 3-2 Twins win on Aug. 30, in which Derek Hill (homer, single) and Harold Castro (double, single) were the only Tigers with multiple hits.
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On the mound for the Tigers, Tarik Skubal will look to continue a strong start to 2022 which included six scoreless innings in the Tigers’ 13-0 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon. After finishing second in the American League in homers allowed in 2021, the left-hander has yet to give one up this season, over 15⅔ innings. The Twins, though, will be a test of that; no team has homered more off Skubal than Minnesota, with 10 in six games over the past two seasons. The chief culprit still on the Twins’ roster? Byron Buxton, who has homered in the bottom of the first in each of his past two games against Skubal, on Sept. 22, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. Buxton has had injury issues — including multiple missed games this season — but he’s still hitting .289/.347/.778 (including six home runs) in 2022.
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After Thursday, the Tigers continue west to take on the L.A. Dodgers for three games. Friday's matchup features T.A. vs. T.A. — that's the Tigers' Tyler Alexander vs. the Dodgers' Tyler Anderson (who was a Detroit free-agent target during the offseason). Then, on Saturday, it's rookie Beau Brieske, a former 27th-round draft pick, getting the start Saturday against lefty Clayton Kershaw, that childhood compadre of ex-Lions QB Matthew Stafford. The Twins, meanwhile, head south to face the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose, 7-1, to Minnesota Twins: Game thread replay
