The Detroit Tigers look to continue their winning ways Friday night after a 7-6 win to open their weekend series with the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. The first pitch is set for 7:08 p.m. ET and will air live on Fox Detroit, MLB.com with a paid subscription and for free here.
Miguel Cabrera homered in his career best-tying fourth straight game and went 2 for 3 with two walks and three RBIs in Thursday's come-from-behind victory over Minnesota in Thursday's series opener. He's improved his season average to an amazing .391, and is batting .486 during a nine-game hitting streak.
Cabrera is 9 for 15 with six homers and 13 RBIs over his last four contests. The slugger has also been walked five times in the last four games.
Pitchers decision not to intentionally walk Cabrera opens up the opportunity for Prince Fielder to capitalize. Fielder has followed each of Cabrera's walks with run-scoring hits, including what turned out to be the game-winning RBI single Thursday. He is currently riding a five-game hitting streak
"It's absolutely incredible what they are doing," Tigers starter Rick Porcello said. "If I were pitching against them, I'd just walk both of them every time they came up."
Minnesota will send out Samuel Deduno to face the dangerous Tigers' lineup. Deduno will be making his first start of the season after pitching exclusively in the minors to rehab an injury suffered in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic. Deduno went 6-5 with a 4.44 ERA in 15 starts for Minnesota in 2012.
"You're going to get a guy who puts some fear in people's hearts," Gardenhire told the team's official website. "I don't think he's afraid of going against those big boys in Detroit."
Detroit will match Deduno with Anibal Sanchez (4-4). Sanchez currently holds a 2.77 ERA and is coming off a losing effort in which he allowed five runs over the course of two innings.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
