Giants at Tigers
Victor Martinez answered a difficult week by doubling his hit total over that stretch in the opener of a three-game interleague series against the San Francisco Giants. Martinez hopes his new-found hot streak continues as the Detroit Tigers vie for an interleague series victory on Wednesday when they face the Giants at Comerica Park.
Martinez belted a solo homer in the second inning and added an RBI single in the fourth of Tuesday's 5-3 victory, improving upon a 2-for-20 stretch following his return from a bout with an irregular heartbeat. "I'm just happy I could do something to help the team win," the 38-year-old Martinez said. "That 2-for-20 shows I wasn't (swinging) the bat very well. I was swinging pretty good up to the point I went on the disabled list." While Detroit has answered an eight-game losing skid by winning five of its last eight contests, San Francisco saw its season-high six-game winning streak come to a halt on Tuesday. Brandon Crawford launched a two-run homer to hit safely for the sixth time in eight outings, collecting six RBIs in that stretch.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, NBCSN Bay Area (San Francisco), FSN Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Ty Blach (5-5, 4.60 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Daniel Norris (4-6, 5.00)
Blach answered a dismal 0-3 mark with a 9.28 ERA in a four-start stretch by allowing one earned run in 6 1/3 innings of a 5-3 victory over Colorado. The 26-year-old didn't help his cause with a pair of throwing errors, however, setting the stage for a pair of unearned runs. "This game's about picking each other up," Blach said of his last outing. "That's what we did in this series. Everybody contributed."
Norris yielded five earned runs for the second straight outing last Wednesday and surrendered two homers in 3 2/3 innings of an 8-2 loss to Kansas City. The 24-year-old admitted to thinking too much while he was on the mound, with Tigers manager Brad Ausmus electing to give him an extra day's rest as a result. "Trust your stuff, that's been preached to him for two years," Ausmus said. "He wants to be so good so fast. We've always kind of told him, 'Hey, get out of your own way, You can be really good. You've got the stuff.'"
WALK-OFFS
1. Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera exited Tuesday's contest with left hip tightness, but Ausmus told reporters he expects the slugger to play on Wednesday.
2. San Francisco CF Denard Span is 0-for-8 in his last two games on the heels of a 12-for-25 stretch in his previous five contests with an at-bat.
3. Tigers LF Justin Upton is 5-for-7 with one homer and five RBIs in two contests sandwiched around a three-game absence due to a sore right side.