The Detroit Tigers would have preferred more momentum coming into their home opener on Friday afternoon.
The Tigers, however, still will have a capacity crowd and plenty of optimism heading into their weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Detroit was swept in a three-game series by the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, including the majors’ first 1-0 game this season on Wednesday. Overall, the Tigers have lost four straight games after winning their first two contests.
“A lot of guys in this clubhouse have been through multiple, multiple seasons and they know how the flow of a season goes,” infielder Colt Keith said. “I don’t think anyone in here is panicking. We’re pretty confident we’re going to turn it around and get back on track.”
Keith and rookie phenom Kevin McGonigle are the only players on the team who have gotten off to hot starts in the first week. They’re both hitting .364 with a combined seven extra-base hits.
Both of them had extra-base hits in the series finale.
“(Wednesday), if you had a few defensive players one foot in the other direction, we would’ve had a couple more hits to get things going,” Keith said. “When we hit it good, we hit it right at people. We can definitely have better at-bats, but I’m not panicking at all. I feel like we’re going to be fine.”
Key free agent acquisition Framber Valdez (0-0, 1.50 ERA) will start on Friday. The former Houston left-hander made a splashy Detroit debut against San Diego last Friday, holding the Padres to two runs (one earned) in six innings and recording five strikeouts. Detroit hasn’t won since Valdez’s outing.
“What started out as a promising trip turned rough here,” manager AJ Hinch said.
Valdez is 0-2 with a 9.90 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) against the Cardinals.
He will be opposed by right-hander Michael McGreevy, who pitched six scoreless innings in his season debut against Tampa Bay on Saturday but wound up with a no-decision. He threw 96 pitches.
“Changeup was great,” McGreevy said. “That was a pitch I really tried to focus on this offseason, and it’s just something I can go to. … Keeping their hitters off balance, using all seven of my pitches today, for both lefties and righties — especially when they stack the lineup with lefties, good lefties at that — I was very happy to keep them at bay.”
He has an array of pitches that he can call upon.
“You don’t want to fall into patterns, and when you’ve got seven (pitches), it should be easy not to fall into patterns,” he said. “If something’s working, then go back to it. But just from being on the mound, it was a good mix of, ‘Hey I don’t think they know what is coming,’ minus a few pitches.”
McGreevy had an 8-4 record and 4.42 ERA in 17 outings (16 starts) last season. He has yet to face the Tigers in his career.
The Cardinals’ staff has been stellar in the last two games, holding the New York Mets to one run. Masyn Winn’s bloop single in the 11th inning gave his club a 2-1 walk-off victory on Wednesday.
“It wasn’t the best swing,” Winn said. “But I was just trying to get to first base, just in case.”
Winn was involved in a single-car accident that wasn’t deemed serious after the game, which the team attributed to wet pavement.
–Field Level Media
