Today the Tigers hop on the train to Pittsburgh, to finish off that annual MLB-manufactured-rivalry home-and-home thing with the Pirates. By the end of this series the Tigers will have started the season with 67% of their games as Interleague games, and 44% of them playing without the DH.
Today’s Interleagueal Lineup:
- Kinsler, 2B
- Upton, LF
- Cabrera, 1B
- JD Martinez, LF
- Castellanos, 3B
- Saltalamacchia, C
- Iglesias, SS
- Gose, CF
- Greene, P
Shane Greene has never had a hit or a sacrifice in his career. No matter, Gates Martinez is on the bench for late-inning heroics.
Well, the Tigers find themselves 8 days into the regular season with only 4 games played, due to some scheduling quirks and a rain-out (cold-out) last night. But that just means lots more baseball to come. Three other teams have only managed 4 games played thus far as well. If you can’t tell, I hate it when we don’t get a full slate the first week of the season.
Anyway, first pitch for the Pirates series is just about 30 minutes away. Verlander gets his second start after a so-so first start. JV was dominant through 5 innings last week, and really pitched better than the final box score demonstrated, but last week’s 6th inning was all too reminiscent of last year’s struggles.
Two game set in Detroit followed by two more in Pittsburgh.
Today’s lineup:
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Justin Upton, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Tyler Collins, CF
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
So much for that nationally televised game, as April in the D continues to be a cold and rainy one. No makeup date has been announced yet. Monday we are back to interleague play (Again already? What’s up with that?), weather permitting of course.
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