LOS ANGELES ANGELS (29-31) vs. DETROIT TIGERS (28-28)
Game 1
Jesse Chavez (4-6, 4.68 ERA, 50 K) vs. Daniel Norris (2-3, 4.47 ERA, 48 K)
Tuesday, June 5 @ 7:10 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Oh, how sweep it is! The Tigers earned their first series sweep of the 2017 season with a dominant series win over the Chicago White Sox, capped off with a Justin Upton three-run walk-off home run in yesterday’s 7-4 win. Now, the Tigers turn their attention to the Mike Trout-less Los Angeles Angels for a three-game set beginning Tuesday at 7:10 PM EST. Detroit sends Daniel Norris to the mound in hopes of a 5th-straight win overall. Norris lasted five innings last start, allowing three earned runs and a no-decision in a 10-7 win over the Royals on Monday. The Tigers are 3-2 in Norris last five starts, but Norris has only lasted six innings in one of those outings.
Opposing Norris for the Angels is Jesse Chavez. Chavez was struggling through May before his last start, allowing 18 ER in five starts during the month. However, he bounced back last time out against the Atlanta Braves, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. Against the Tigers, Chavez has gone 11 2/3 innings without allowing a run and in three innings pitched last season out of the reliever role, Chavez allowed just one hit and no runs against Detroit.
[the_ad id=”80408″]
Game 2
Alex Meyer (2-2, 4.91 ERA, 32 K) vs. TBD
Alex Meyer has faced the Tigers already once this season, going 6.1 innings of one-run baseball, earning the win. Getting to Meyer early is the key to success for the Tigers in game two.
Wednesday, June 6 @ 7:10 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Game 3
Thursday, June 7 @ 1:l10 p.m. ET
TV: MLB Network & Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Preview
Two games in this series do not have pitching matchups due to the shuffling of rotations and off days. The Tigers are coming in playing their best baseball of the season after sweeping the Chicago White Sox last weekend at Comerica Park. The Angels, on the other hand, are 4-6 in their last 10 games and will be without arguably the best player in the game, Mike Trout, for 6-8 weeks after surgery on his thumb.
Prediction
With the Tigers riding a hot-streak, they’re longest of the season, safe money is to look for them to take two out of three against the Angels. Look for Micahel Fulmer and Jordan Zimmermann to be the guys for games two and three and build on their last outings. Comfortably the Tigers take two of three from the Angels and get over .500 for the first time in what feels like forever.
