The Detroit Tigers take aim at their eight straight win and a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals this afternoon at Comerica Park.
The Tigers have an excellent chance to keep rolling today, as they hand the ball to red-hot right-hander Max Scherzer, who is vying to become the first seven-game winner in the majors this season.
Oakland's Trevor Cahill is also 6-0 and will be on the hill this afternoon as well.
Scherzer is a perfect 6-0 with a 3.20 ERA and has struck out 51 batters in 50 2/3 innings. On Monday, he allowed two earned runs in five innings of a win over Toronto. Scherzer has gone at least five innings in each of his eight starts this season.
"When the Tigers win, I'm happy," Scherzer said after the win. "I just really wasn't sharp today. I didn't really have command of any of my pitches.
"I haven't really looked at the film yet to decipher what went wrong tonight, but that [release point] could be it. At the same time, I was able to battle and get through five and at least give the team a chance to win."
Scherzer dominated the Royals in a previous start this season and is 3-2 lifetime against the franchise with a 2.52 ERA.
The Tigers continued to impress on Saturday, as Brad Penny tossed eight scoreless innings and Jhonny Peralta reached a career milestone in Detroit's 3-0 win.
Penny (4-3) scattered five hits in the quality start, struck out two and walked none for the Tigers, who have won 10 of the last 11 overall.
"It's nice to get a win and keep going," Penny said. "I really don't look at streaks, we got to go out there and try to win."
Peralta finished 2-for-3 with a RBI while recording his 1,000 career hit with a double in the sixth inning. He became the 47th player from the Dominican Republic to record 1,000 career hits
Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez each drove in a run for the victors.
Royals starter Jeff Francis (0-5) never got any help after giving up three runs in the first inning. The former Colorado Rockies pitcher, who is still in search of his first win in the American League, went eight innings, surrendering seven hits and striking out four in the hard-luck loss.
"It's frustrating to know that I can throw the ball for seven innings and it's just 13 pitches in the first that cost me," said Francis, who hasn't won since beating the Chicago Cubs back on July 20, 2010. "That's how baseball is."
Not much has gone right for Kansas City righty Kyle Davies this season. The hurler is just 1-5 with a 7.08 ERA, and although he has lost four of his last five starts, just once during that span has he surrendered more than three earned runs. He has been touched for 57 hits in 40 2/3 innings and has walked 14 batters.
Davies is 0-1 versus Detroit this season with a 12.27 ERA, and he is 3-9 lifetime against the Tigers with a 5.85 ERA.
The Royals took two of three at Detroit from April 8-10
0 comments:
Post a Comment