Detroit @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 24, 2010 ) Detroit 8, Texas 4
In his first stint in the major leagues, Colby Lewis relied on one pitch – his fastball. And, even then, he didn’t have great command of it.
Now, after spending two years in Japan, Lewis has better command and more pitches in his repertoire. His return to the majors this season with the Texas Rangers, the same team who drafted him 38th overall out of junior college back in 1999, couldn’t have gone much better, either.
In his first three starts, Lewis has earned two victories and takes the mound for start No. 4 today against right-hander Rick Porcello and the Detroit Tigers.
Lewis, who played in the Tigers organization in 2006, has made only one career appearance against Detroit, throwing a scoreless inning in relief on Sept. 2, 2007.
In his last start, Lewis needed 105 pitches to go five innings and allowed three runs with five strikeouts and two walks.
While his command is still questionable, Lewis certainly has shown he has the arsenal to pitch at the big league level. So far this season, opponents have hit .206 off Lewis, including an .185-mark by right-handed hitters.
Offensively, the Rangers need to get production from more than Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz, who have carried the team all season. And, despite calling up highly touted prospect Justin Smoak on Friday, the bottom of the lineup has continued to struggle. The Nos. 6-9 hitters went a combined 2-for-13 on Saturday night and Smoak is still searching for his first big league hit.
Guerrero is the only Rangers player that has faced Porcello, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Porcello, in his second season in the majors, has struggled out of the gate, posting a 6.46 ERA in his first three starts. In his last two starts, Porcello has allowed nine runs on 18 hits over 10 1/3 innings.
The key for Porcello will be getting his sinker back to where it was last year, when he induced countless groundouts. It’s also worth noting that Porcello had a 6.23 ERA last April, but finished with a 3.96 ERA.
The Tigers would also like Porcello to go deep in the game because the bullpen pitched six scoreless innings Saturday night after Dontrelle Willis was a last-minute scratch with an upset stomach.
Offensively, the Tigers rallied from a four-run deficit Saturday, as Johnny Damon, Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez all recorded doubles and RBI hits.
With his RBI double in the fourth inning, Ordonez also closed in on the 2,000-hit milestone. It was Ordonez’s 1,996th hit and he is now four shy of becoming only the sixth Venezuelan to collect 2,000 hits, joining Omar Vizquel, Luis Aparicio, Andres Galarraga, Dave Concepcion and Bobby Abreu.
The only question mark for the Tigers is whether shortstop Adam Everett will be able to play. He left Saturday’s game in the third inning with a mild right hamstring strain and has been listed as day-to-day.