Oakland @ Detroit preview
Comerica Park
Last Meeting ( May 20, 2010 ) Detroit 5, Oakland 2
Some cracks are beginning to show for the Detroit Tigers, especially on the road. But a nice long homestand could be the key to rebuilding a solid foundation.
The Tigers kick off a string of seven straight games at Comerica Park when they open a four-game series tonight against the Oakland Athletics.
Detroit got swept in a two-game series against the lowly Seattle Mariners earlier in the week and dropped four of five to finish out a seven-game road trip. That pushed the Tigers’ record away from Comerica to an ugly 11-15.
But at 14-6, Detroit owns the best home record of any team in baseball, giving its fans hope that a turnaround is just a game away.
The Tigers came into the season with a number of question marks on their pitching staff, and while the bullpen has been outstanding, the rotation has been putting an awful lot of pressure on the relievers. Detroit’s starters rank last in the American League in innings pitched and ERA.
The bullpen, led by Jose Valverde and the resurgent Joel Zumaya, owns an AL-best 2.56 ERA but all those innings may be catching up. Ryan Perry, one of three Tigers relievers who have logged 20 appearances or more already, let a 4-1 lead slip away by allowing four runs in the eighth on Tuesday as Detroit fell 5-4.
The bullpen will be on high alert again today when Dontrelle Willis gets the start. Willis is averaging 5.9 walks per nine innings and has yet to record an out in the seventh inning in any of his eight appearances this season.
Willis has been even worse lately, tossing 8 2/3 combined innings in his last two starts while issuing 10 free passes. He walked a season-high seven batters in 3 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on May 15.
The left-hander has faced the A’s twice in his career, most recently in 2008, when he walked five in four scoreless innings.
Oakland will counter with veteran right-hander Ben Sheets. The 31-year-old is also not one to work deep into games, averaging just over 5 1/3 frames in 10 starts.
But Sheets is coming off his strongest outing of the season, when he allowed two hits in six scoreless innings to earn a win against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. But perhaps most importantly for a pitcher who missed all of 2009 following surgery on his pitching arm, Sheets has answered the call and has not had to skip a turn in the rotation yet.
The A’s are coming off a 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in which they posted five runs in the eighth inning to take the lead. Kevin Kouzmanoff struck the big blow with a three-run double to cap the rally.