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Detroit Tigers game, lineup vs. Washington Nationals: Riley Greene at DH, Baddoo in LF

Detroit Tigers (32-34) vs. Washington Nationals (31-35)

When: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: Comerica Park in Detroit.

TV: 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).

Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Reese Olson (1-7, 3.43 ERA) vs. Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (4-5, 3.12 ERA)

Weather: Mid-80s and partly cloudy, 10 mph winds.

• Box score

Tigers lineup:

  1. CF Matt Vierling

  2. DH Riley Greene

  3. RF Wenceel Pérez

  4. 1B Mark Canha

  5. 2B Colt Keith

  6. 3B Gio Urshela

  7. SS Zach McKinstry

  8. LF Akil Baddoo

  9. C Carson Kelly

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Game notes: For much of the season, Reese Olson has been amongst the best pitchers in baseball.

The second-year right-hander's ERA jumped to 5.40 after his second start of the season back in April when he gave up six earned runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but then he managed to lower his ERA in each of his next six starts. The number briefly popped up after he gave up one earned run when he had to leave the game on May 20 after taking a comebacker off the hip, but another strong outing in his final start of May gave him an incredible 1.92 ERA for the season. Between American League Cy Young award leader Tarik Skubal, strikeout maestro Jack Flaherty and Olson, the Tigers looked like they had a legitimate three-headed horse.

Then the calendar turned to June, and things have not been nearly as kind to the baby-faced righty.

Reese Olson of the Detroit Tigers pitches during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Reese Olson of the Detroit Tigers pitches during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, June 7, 2024.

Olson started the month out by giving up five earned runs in a loss against the Boston Red Sox on the road in what looked like an outlier at the time. However, in his next start out, things looked significantly worse. The Milwaukee Brewers tore Olson apart for 12 total hits and eight earned runs as he was only able to complete four innings. Time and time again, the Brewers came to the plate and were totally unphased by the pitcher who just a few weeks ago looked totally unhittable. Olson gave up six hits in the second inning, then got all three batters he faced out in the third inning before giving up six more hits and four more runs in the fourth inning.

In all, it was an incredibly forgettable day for Olson. After the start, Olson said it wasn't all bad and there was some bad luck possibly involved, but he was still disappointed with himself.

"As a whole, I'm not really happy with my performance," Olson said after the 10-0 loss on June 7. "Combined maybe a little bit of bad luck with some poorly executed pitches, all in one inning. It kind of unraveled on me."

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson pitches during the first inning of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson pitches during the first inning of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, June 7, 2024.

Wednesday will be an opportunity for Olson to reverse course on an otherwise frustrating month thus far. The Nationals averaged just four runs per game, which entering Tuesday ranked 22nd in MLB and was behind Detroit, who came in at 19th.

After the game Wednesday, the Tigers will finish the series up with the Nats Thursday before heading to Texas to face the Houston Astros on the road.

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Live updates

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers game vs. Washington Nationals: Time, TV channel, lineup