The Detroit Tigers return home this week after a West Coast road swing that saw the team beat the Seattle Mariners but lose to the San Francisco Giants in a pair of three-game series, respectively. AJ Hinch’s squad now returns home to host the former team for a three-gamer inside Comerica Park before the New York Yankees visit for three games as well.
Since the trade deadline, the Olde English D has struggled to a 4-6 record as the team slowly sifts to the bottom of the American League Central standings, where at least the Chicago White Sox have the division cellar locked up. Sitting a full 14 games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians and nine games back in the wild-card race, the final 40-plus games for the Tigers are likely to be pretty meaningless.
Speaking of meaningless, there is not much to offer in this week’s series preview, as only Tarik Skubal has been named as a starter for either team over the next three days. Looks like every game will feature an element of surprise from the mound.
Detroit Tigers (56-63) vs. Seattle Mariners (63-56)
Times (ET): Tuesday: 6:40 p.m.; Wednesday: 6:40 p.m.; Thursday: 1:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site: Lookout Landing
Media: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 120 Pitching Matchup
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| Skubal | 143.1 | 30.1 | 4.9 | 2.68 | 4.2 |
| TBD | – | – | – | – | – |
Game 120: LHP Tarik Skubal (13-4, 2.57 ERA) vs. TBD
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Baseball Savant
Game 121: TBD vs. TBD
Neither team has announced their starting pitchers for Wednesday’s game as of the time of publication.
Game 122: TBD vs. TBD
Neither team has announced their starting pitchers for Thursday’s game as of the time of publication.
Series Outlook: Time is ticking down
Detroit took two of three at Seattle last week and all three games were fiercely contested by both teams. The squad’s ability to keep battling even in a hostile environment is an encouraging sign for the fans and hopefully the comforts of the home confines can give the guys another boost.
Offensively, these teams are somewhat similar as noted before, with Detroit ranked No. 26 in OPS (.675) while Seattle is tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for No. 27 (.674). However, the home team has scored several more runs (23rd, 491) than the visitors (27th, 447).
The Mariners only allowed one run in three games at home against the New York Mets last weekend in a series sweep, so their pitching is currently red hot. There is a significant difference in the pitching staffs, with the Mariners sitting at the top of the majors in ERA (3.42) while the Tigers rank 14th (3.96).
This is a series the Tigers can win, but it will require some clever lineup work from the head coach as well as some clutch play from the players.