Tigers at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays hope to continue their strong play at Tropicana Field when they host the Detroit Tigers for the second of a three-game series Wednesday night. The Rays started the season by winning five of seven at home before going 1-6 on a road trip through New York and Boston, but returned to their stadium to record a 5-1 triumph against the Tigers on Tuesday.
Tim Beckham continued his assault on Detroit pitching with two hits, including a two-run blast that put Tampa Bay ahead for good in the third inning, to improve to 10-for-26 with three homers and 11 RBIs in his career against the Tigers. Detroit has lost three of five since a strong 6-2 start to the season and right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will try to turn things around when he opposes Rays ace Chris Archer. Former two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera homered in the first inning Tuesday on his 34th birthday to tie Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero for 38th on major league baseball’s all-time list with 449. Cabrera is warming up after a cold start while going 7-for-17 during a five-game hitting streak with three home runs and seven RBIs in that stretch.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Jordan Zimmermann (1-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. Rays RH Chris Archer (2-0, 2.21)
Zimmermann regressed in his last start after a strong season debut, allowing five runs on four hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings of an 11-5 loss to Minnesota last Thursday. The 30-year-old Wisconsin native, who limited Boston to one run over six innings in his first outing, will be making his 200th major league appearance and 199th start. Corey Dickerson (4-or-6, homer) and Rickie Weeks (5-for-9, homer) have had success against Zimmermann, who is 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four games versus the Rays.
Archer has strung together three strong starts to open the season, yielding five runs over 20 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts and six walks. The North Carolina native’s pitch count got too high last time out against Boston (102) as he was only able to finish 5 2/3 frames and gave up one run on six hits. Cabrera is 4-for-12 with a homer while Ian Kinsler (2-for-20) and Victor Martinez (2-for-14) have struggled versus Archer, who went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in a pair of starts against the Tigers in 2016.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Tigers have hit at least one homer in the first 13 games, a franchise record to start the season and the longest such streak in the majors since the 2002 Cleveland Indians (14).
2. Tampa Bay CF Kevin Kiermaier is 5-for-13 with three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases over the last three contests.
3. Detroit C Alex Avila, who came into the game with seven hits in 10 at-bats to open the season, went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts Tuesday.