Last night the Detroit Tigers picked up a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Tigers with the 4-0 win improved their record to 19-21 and are now 9-4 in the month of May. The lineup produced last night with Riley Greene picking up three hits and Spencer Torkelson adding two more which were both doubles to lead the Tigers to the win in the opener of their first game of this two-game series with the Pirates. Michael Lorenzen also pitched his best game of the season going six innings, and not allowing a run; he walked two and struck out seven.
Key Points
- Detroit Tigers picked up a 4-0 win against the Pirates.
- Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson combined for five hits.
- Michael Lorenzen turned in his best start of the season.
Michael Lorenzen's recent dominance
As of late a lot of talk has been about Eduardo Rodriguez and how well he has pitched over his last six games and rightfully so, but Michael Lorenzen is quietly following in Rodriguez's steps. Over Lorenzen's last three outings, he has combined to throw 20 innings and has allowed just two runs on a combined 14 hits; he has walked only four and struck out 11 over those three starts as well. In those three games, the Tigers are two and one with Lorenzen factoring in the decision of all three of those starts. After the game Tigers manager AJ Hinch had this to say about Lorenzen's most recent start.
“He got a lot of funny swings, or a lot of takes, and he was filling up the strike zone, He did lose it for a little bit and regained himself. His adjustments were nice. He pitched six really solid innings.” – AJ Hinch
In the fourth inning, Lorenzen ran into a little bit of a jam giving up a one-out single and then a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter came out to talk to Lorenzen and calmed him down as he got the next Pirates hitter to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“I was definitely fighting against my body early on, Even though your body doesn't feel great, trust that your stuff is going to do what it's supposed to do. I felt like my body opened up, and I started trusting my stuff more, and my stuff got better.”
– Michael Lorenzen
In the sixth inning, Lorenzen was able to finish off his start after giving up a two-out single he got his final batter to fly out.
“My goal is to go out and attack the zone and fill up the zone, and it makes it that much easier knowing you have a cushion, A solo homer is not going to beat you, so you feel confident in throwing strikes and letting your defense work.”
– Michael Lorenzen
Wrap Up
Michael Lorenzen will look to continue what he has done in the month of May when he makes his next start which should come next Monday against the Kansas City Royals. Today the Detroit Tigers will finish up their two-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates when Eduardo Rodriguez will take on Rich Hill for the Pirates with today's game being a matinee start with the first pitch set for 1:10 PM.
