Arizona Diamondbacks (39-26) vs. Detroit Tigers (30-32)
Game 1
Zach Greinke (8-3, 3.20) vs. Buck Farmer (2-0, 0.00 ERA)
Tuesday, June 13 @ 7:10 EST
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
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The Detroit Tigers head home from their quick three-game series in Boston to take on one of the more surprising teams in all of baseball this season — the Arizona Diamondbacks. Having only come away with one win against the Red Sox, the Tigers will look for a quick sweep of the Diamondbacks to help their standing in the AL Central — where they are only 3 games behind the Minnesota Twins. Tuesday’s game is the first of 13 games in a row. Six of those games are at home, with the last seven on the west coast against the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres. With the schedule set the way it is, starting out strong against the Diamondbacks is of first priority.
Hoping to get off to that strong start the Tigers will send Buck Farmer to the hill in Tuesday’s game, looking to build on his first two starts of the 2017 season. Farmer was called up for a spot start against the White Sox, in the nightcap of a doubleheader, where he went 6.2 innings of shutout baseball with 11 strikeouts. He then made a start last week against the Angels, going 6.1 innings of shutout baseball with five strikeouts. Farmer has pitched his way into the starting rotation, forcing the team to send struggling LHP Matt Boyd back to Triple-A Toledo.
Countering Farmer, the Diamondbacks will look to veteran Zach Greinke to slow down a Tigers offense that collected 14 runs on 34 hits in their series with the Red Sox. Greinke is in the midst of a typical season for him, going 8-3 so far with a 3.20 ERA.
Game 2
TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, June 14 @ 7:10 EST
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
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For the third series in a row, the Tigers rotation is TBD. For game two of the series with the Diamondbacks, the Tigers could look to Michael Fulmer, who is on an extra day of rest, or Jordan Zimmermann who would be on regular rest. Most likely, Fulmer seems to be the choice so his routine is not upset too badly; however, with the way Zimmermann has been throwing the ball lately, keeping him on a regular schedule and giving Fulmer an extra day of rest to figure things out.
For the Diamondbacks, they are pitching Greinke in game one on regular rest. So the obvious choice for them would be Patrick Corbin, who would also be on traditional rest. Corbin’s last outing was against the San Deigo Padres, where he went 5.2 innings and gave up three earned runs, earning the win. The hope for the Tigers would be that they draw Corbin who is sitting at 5.38 ERA on the season, and would play into an offense that is clicking pretty well right now. Thankfully, the Tigers will miss former Tiger, Robbie Ray, who just pitched on Sunday, but is on a stretch of his last five outings giving up just one run in total over 37 innings with 48 strikeouts.
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