Verlander has looked good in his first two starts of the season and interleague play seems to be a great place for him to pick up his first win of the season.
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Tuesday night’s 14-inning game marked the longest (by innings) for the Tigers since they played a 19-inning game at Toronto against the Blue Jays on August 10, 2014 (and I was hoping to never think of that game again).
“He’s one of my favorite players”, Guerra said. The Pirates won the last game 5-4 and Pittsburgh leads the series 1-0.
Pinch-hitter Josh Harrison greeted losing reliever Tom Gorzelanny (1-2) with a fly ball to deep right center that center fielder Rajai Davis almost snagged, the ball falling out of his glove as he fell on the warning track dirt trying for a diving catch.
The Pirates worked a run across in the second inning when Mercer singled, moved to third on a Stewart double and came home on a Polanco flyout.
Burnett has an 0-2 record and a 1.57 earned run average in his winless stretch and the Pirates are 1-3 in that time. “We finally got something going in the 14th, but we didn’t get the big hit”. Outfielder J.D. Martinez has consecutive three-hit games for Detroit, which has dropped four of five to Pittsburgh this season. He pitched six-plus innings allowing a run against the Tigers this season. Despite 17 hits to Pittsburgh’s 15, they couldn’t get it done, stranding 12 baserunners and finishing 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Straily can still miss bats at a decent rate, and if he continues to be stingy with walks, he might survive his home starts without too much damage. In his last two starts, Simon has allowed 12 runs on 14 hits and six walks over nine innings.
Ausmus, though, thought he saw a silver lining in Verlander’s finish. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander will make his 16th start of the season.
During a trip to Detroit many years ago, Hurdle and Don Baylor went to the Detroit Public Library to spend time with legendary Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell. He was able to throw 117 pitches in his most recent outing, a 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees on June 19.
Detroit almost tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, but after a 4-minute replay review, James McCann’s flyball off the top of the right-field fence was ruled an RBI double instead of a 3-run homer.
The Tigers made it a one-run game in the seventh when Kinsler doubled home McCann, but Pittsburgh got it back in the eighth thanks to an RBI single from McCutchen for a 4-2 lead. Jared Hughes took over and got Miguel Cabrera to ground out, ending the threat. And in an 0-2 count, his only batter faced to that point, Chamberlain gave up an RBI single before striking out the last batter in the eighth. OF Corey Hart (shoulder) went 1-4 in his first rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis.
Manager Brad Ausmus confirmed Sunday morning that Verlander made it through his bullpen session Saturday without incident, giving the Tigers’ medical staff enough confidence to sign off on his return to the mound this week.
“Sometimes things don’t go our way, so it’s ‘So what, now what, ‘” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
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Tuesday’s starter for Pittsburgh, Gerrit Cole, was the first pitcher to cool of a red-hot Detroit lineup when he pitched his team to its only victory in the three-game series. Burnett is 6-3 with a 4.81 ERA and 55 strikeouts in his career against the Tigers.
