Pirates at Tigers (Game 1)
The real winner of the season-opening series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers is Mother Nature, with inclement weather Saturday forcing a second postponement in two days and resulting in a split doubleheader Sunday in Detroit. The two teams may have needed the rainout to recover from a wild opening day Friday (following a Thursday rainout), a game the Tigers appeared to have won before a reversed call at home plate led to a 13-10 Pirates victory in 13 innings.
Detroit spent Friday evening and undoubtedly Saturday seething after Nick Castellanos was initially called safe in the bottom of the 10th with the game-winning run, only to have replay reverse the call, setting off an argument that resulted in Ron Gardenhire being ejected in his debut as Tigers manager. “We’ve had plenty of plays that need clear and conclusive evidence to overturn, and there was one angle that maybe looked like it could have gotten my sleeve, and let’s over turn the game and not let the Tigers win,” Castellanos told reporters afterward. Both teams had plenty of chances in the opener, however, as the Pirates blew a four-run ninth-inning lead and Detroit relievers surrendered nine runs and 11 hits in seven innings. “We fight as a family,” Pittsburgh right fielder Gregory Polanco told the media after he finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs scored,and the go-ahead three-run homer in the 13th. “We’ve got to fight every pitch, every at-bat, every inning, and you see what happens.”
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet (Pittsburgh), FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (2017: 7-9, 4.07 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Michael Fulmer (2017: 10-12, 3.83)
Originally scheduled to start Saturday, Williams looks to build off a steady second half of 2017 in which he posted a 3.35 ERA in 13 starts. The 25-year-old, who began the season in the bullpen before joining the rotation in May, received two runs of support or less in seven of his 25 starts, but also got seven runs or more in six appearances. Williams finished spring training with a 5.87 ERA, giving up 10 runs on 18 hits in 15 1/3 innings.
Fulmer also was slated to make his season debut Saturday, and the 25-year-old enters the campaign looking to prove he is healthy. The 2016 American League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star a season ago, Fulmer underwent elbow surgery that ended his 2017 in September, and had an MRI exam in early March after experiencing elbow soreness, but the tests came back clean. Fulmer, considering the young ace of Detroit’s rebuilding team, struck out 15 while walking two and posting a 2.12 ERA in four spring training starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. The two teams combined for 23 runs, 31 hits and five errors in Friday’s opener.
2. Pittsburgh OF Starling Marte is hitting .335 in interleague play since the start of 2014, the highest average by any National League player.
3. The Tigers did not hit a homer in Friday’s marathon game, but seven of their 14 hits were doubles.