Detroit Tigers game vs. Cleveland Guardians: Time, TV channel, lineup for series finale
Detroit Tigers (19-17) at Cleveland Guardians (23-13), series finale
When: 1:10 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
TV: MLB Network (out of market only), Bally Sports Detroit. (Have Xfinity but still looking for a way to watch BSD? Here are some other options.)
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).
Weather report: 74 degrees and sunny, 1% chance of precipitation, 16 mph winds.
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Reese Olson (0-4, 2.70 ERA) vs. Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (2-1, 4.46 ERA).
Tigers lineup: TBD.
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Game notes: Count Reese Olson as one of the pitchers who is glad we don't rely on wins and losses as a statistic as much these days.
Olson has made six starts so far this year after somewhat surprisingly claiming one of the last spots in the Tigers' five-man stating rotation, and in four of those six starts, Olson has been handed a loss. But here's the kicker: In Olson's four losses, he's only surrendered more than two runs one time. He has twice given up just one run, but still gotten the loss. More than any other pitcher in the Tigers' rotation, Olson has been hurt by a complete lack of run support.
Last time out, against a powerful New York Yankees lineup with names such as Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, Olson went five innings strong, giving up just two hits, two walks and no runs. When he left the game, the score was 0-0. After sitting down, the Tigers scored their only run of the game in the sixth, then gave up the lead with two runs in the ninth, leaving Olson with no result, which frankly based on this year, probably had him feeling lucky.
In his start before that, Olson was arguably just as good, holding the Kansas City Royals to one run while completing an impressive seven innings. He struck out eight batters and gave up just three hits, but again, no run support. When he left the game after the seventh inning, the Tigers were losing, 1-0, and ended up losing the game 8-0.
We could go on, like talking about how the Tigers' defense cost Olson two runs in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins, or about how he has yet to give up a home run this year after surrendering 14 in 21 starts last year, but you get the point. With the exception of his second start of the year, in which he gave up six runs and nine hits, Olson has been lights out, and the Tigers batters very much owe him a big day at the plate.
In order to get that done, the Tigers will have to get some production against Guardians starting pitcher, Tanner Bibee. The 25-year-old righty is coming off his worst start of the year, in which he gave up six runs and eight hits (including two home runs) against the Los Angeles Angels. Bibee will be looking to get some revenge and to prove that the last time out was simply a fluke. In his three previous starts, Bibee had given up just three earned runs combined over 17⅔ innings, so he was pitching well before the Angels outing. As a rookie last year, Bibee went 10-4 with an impressive 2.98 ERA, so he has shown he's capable, and for a Tigers team that has struggled to hit pretty much every type of pitcher, they'll likely have their work cut out for them once again on Wednesday.
After finishing up the series with the Guardians on Wednesday, the Tigers will get an off day before heading back to Detroit to host the Houston Astros on Friday, when they'll debut their new City Connect jerseys.
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Live updates
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers game vs. Cleveland Guardians: Time, TV channel, lineup
