The Detroit Tigers have been one of the worst teams in the majors over their first 13 games, but they have played just three times at home.
Detroit will aim to get its season jump-started on Friday night and will look to halt a five-game slide when it opens a three-game home set against the Miami Marlins.
The Tigers have lost nine of their first 13 games after they fell 3-1 on Thursday afternoon to complete a four-game series in which they were swept by the Minnesota Twins.
“It is early, but guys are (ticked). We don’t want to lose,” Detroit catcher Jake Rogers said after Thursday’s loss. “To come here to Minnesota and not get any (wins) and get swept is a punch in the mouth. I hope we go home and turn the page. We keep it light in this locker room, but the guys are down right now. We’re going to learn from it and hopefully go to Detroit and put the gas on the pedal.”
The Tigers had just five hits in the series finale and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Detroit also may have lost center fielder Parker Meadows for a period of time after he collided with left fielder Riley Greene in the eighth inning and was hospitalized overnight in Minneapolis. Greene caught the ball, and his head smacked into the side of Meadows’ face.
“That was an ugly, scary one, and there’s a lot of concern for him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “When we got out there, it looked like he had bit his lip or inside his mouth, so there was some blood, and he was pretty out of it. … Obviously we’re going to get him checked out for everything, but this one worries me.”
The Marlins, meanwhile, have started strong with eight wins in 13 games but have played just three away contests, going 1-2.
Miami won its last two games to split a four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds. Owen Caissie had three hits and three RBIs and Javier Sanoja had three and two, respectively, as the Marlins pounded the Reds 8-1 on Thursday.
Sanoja is batting .406 with seven RBIs in 10 appearances. The 23-year-old is packing more confidence than he did when he batted .243 in 118 games last season.
Part of it stems from helping Venezuela defeat the United States in last month’s World Baseball Classic. He entered as a pinch runner and stole a key base in the ninth inning and scored the decisive run in the title game.
“The environment is so hot, amazing,” Sanoja said Thursday of the WBC and blending it in with the Marlins. “It’s Caribbean baseball. You have to play the highest level of baseball, I believe. So that’s what we need to continue being ourselves, play some Caribbean baseball … and I think we’re going to be in a good spot.”
Right-hander Chris Paddack (0-1, 8.31 ERA) will take the mound for Miami in the opener. Paddack, 30, pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief on Sunday and gave up one unearned run and three hits in his team’s 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees. He wasn’t involved in the decision.
Paddack is 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA in three career starts against Detroit. The two losses came last year when he was a member of the Twins. He later was traded to the Tigers to finish the season.
Kerry Carpenter (3-for-5), Javier Baez (3-for-8) and Greene (1-for-3) each have homered off Paddack.
Detroit will send right-hander Keider Montero (0-1, 4.15 ERA) to the mound on Friday. Montero, 25, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday when he gave up three runs (two earned) and three hits over 4 1/3 innings in a 5-3 decision.
Montero gave up three hits in five shutout innings while beating the Marlins last September in his lone outing against them.
–Field Level Media
