The Detroit Tigers got back in the win column last night with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians to kick their three-game series off on the right foot. The Tigers have won six series all of which against non-American League East teams. The Tigers also are now 14-4 against teams not in the American League East; they are 2-14 against the American League East.
Key Points:
- Tigers pick up a 6-2 win to start their three-game series against Cleveland.
- Tigers have won six series all against non-American League East teams.
- Tigers are 14-4 against Non-American League East teams.
- The Tigers are 2-14 against the American League East.
Joey Wentz Comments on first win
With the Tigers’ win, Joey Wentz picked up his first win of the season after starting the season 0-3 in his first six starts. The Tigers are 2-4 in games Wentz has started in with one of those wins coming on a walk-off against the Giants on April 14th. Last night all that changed as Wentz pitched 5.2 innings giving up two runs on three hits; he walked three and struck out five. After his start, he had this to say about picking up the win.
“For personal reasons, having the win was huge for me, if you watch our team, a lot of guys have been contributing. Everybody that gets in the game, we’re doing a good job of controlling what we can. But personally, it feels really good.”
– Joey Wentz
The Tigers lineup also produced to help secure the win and continued winning as they’ve now won seven of their last ten and nine of their last 14. AJ Hinch has this to say about the Tigers’ win.
“We controlled the strike zone pretty well (six walks, seven strikeouts), It’s the first time in a few games where we walked a little bit. We got some big hits and continued to put pressure on them with base runners.”
– AJ Hinch
In the sixth inning, Wentz ran into a little bit of an issue where the Guardians could have tied the game after back-to-back walks, the Guardians had the perfect guys coming up for them in Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell, but Wentz got Ramirez to pop out and Bell to line out; after that, Hinch pulled Wentz for Will Vest who got the last out. After the game, Wentz had comments about the inning.
“Not the way I saw the inning starting, but it happened, if you show those guys any fear, you’re probably screwed. The focus was just on making pitches and one out at a time.”
– Joey Wentz
Bottom Line
With the win in game one, the Detroit Tigers are another win against the Guardians away from winning another series. Things are set up well for the Tigers to do so as tonight will be Michael Lorenzen against Shane Bieber, that may be a tough one for Detroit but if the bats can do what they have as of late they could take tonight’s matchup. The finale will have Tigers ace Eduardo Rodriguez toeing the rubber against Peyton Battenfield; Rodriguez has been lights out over his last five starts and has lowered his ERA to 1.81 as he has allowed only two runs in 34.2 innings of work.
