Tigers at Twins
On the day they placed their offensive stalwart on the disabled list, the Detroit Tigers ended a frustrating losing streak in a heated affair. The Tigers will now aim for a series win when they visit the Minnesota Twins on Sunday for the rubber match of a testy three-game set.
Benches cleared in the bottom of the fifth inning of Saturday's 5-4 win for the Tigers when Twins third baseman Miguel Sano took exception with a pitch thrown behind him and got into it with Detroit catcher James McCann, an incident that may have stemmed from an earlier instance in which Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones was hit in the face with a pitch. "(The Tigers) took it upon themselves to respond, and (Sano), to me, in the emotion of the moment and McCann trying to get in between, he just reacted,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters. Jones immediately left the contest and Detroit was already playing without slugger Miguel Cabrera, who was placed on the 10-day DL prior to the game with a groin injury suffered in Friday's 6-3 loss, which was the Tigers' fourth in a row and sixth in eight games following a 6-2 start. Minnesota, which has dropped five of its last six, gives the ball to the struggling Kyle Gibson in the series finale opposite fellow right-hander Michael Fulmer.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Michael Fulmer (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (0-2, 6.91)
Fulmer has shown no signs of a sophomore slump by producing three straight quality starts out of the gate, including six solid innings against Minnesota on April 12. He let up three runs in six frames at Tampa Bay on Tuesday but wound up on the wrong end of a 5-1 score. The 24-year-old won his only prior start at Target Field and is 2-0 with a 4.09 ERA in two career meetings with the Twins.
Gibson had his longest start of the young season with 5 1/3 innings against Cleveland his last time out, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He has allowed four home runs and four doubles among 18 hits and has hit a batter in each of his last two starts, including a rocky outing opposite Fulmer earlier this month. Ian Kinsler is 9-for-30 with a home run against Gibson while Justin Upton is 3-for-3 with two doubles and two walks.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tigers 3B Nick Castellanos homered Saturday and is 7-for-17 with five RBIs during a four-game hitting streak.
2. Minnesota is 0-3 in one-run games while Detroit is 5-1.
3. Twins SS Jorge Polanco has at least one RBI in four straight games.