Detroit Tigers vs Oakland Athletics Game 53: Game Preview, TV, Lineup

Detroit Tigers (28-24) vs Oakland Athletics (20-33) — 7:08 PM ET

Comerica Park – Detroit, MI

TV: FSD

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket (click for affiliates)

Weather: 69 degrees, sunny

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Game Preview 

The big news before today’s game is the lineup shakeup for Brad Ausmus. Mainly moving Iglesias up and Kinsler (as we wished earlier today). See full lineup below.

The reeling Detroit Tigers arrive home for a brief home stand for the first of three games against the terrible Oakland Athletics beginning Tuesday night. The Tigers went 2-5 on their recent trip to California, with the only two wins coming by winning two of three against these Oakland A’s and dropping all four games in a humbling sweep in Anaheim.

The Tigers are averaging two runs per game in their last seven games. Of those 14 runs scored on the road trip, six of them came in one game, in an 8-6 loss to the Angels on Saturday.

When We Last Met

Four of those 14 runs were scored in O.co Coliseum, but the Tigers still managed to secure two out of three wins against the dreadful A’s.

The last time these teams played in Detroit, Rajai Davis hit a natural grand slam, bringing his team back from three runs to win the game in the bottom of the ninth on one swing of the bat. The Tigers carried that momentum into the next two games and swept the Athletics in that series. Oakland never fully recovered from that sweep and rapidly went from the best team in the American League to being bounced in the wild-card game in Kansas City two months later.

On a side note, has any rivalry lost luster quicker than this one? A year ago even regular season meetings were must-see events, but now Oakland is rebuilding and Detroit is struggling and no one outside these two markets seem to care about their games anymore. It’s a shame, it was a good rivalry there for a short-time.

Pitching Matchup

Alfredo Simon (5-2, 2.67) will take the mound with a heavy heart on Tuesday night after being away from his team for nearly two weeks following the death of his father. Simon experienced yet another stellar outing in his most recent start, a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros on May 22. In that game he went seven strong innings allowing two runs (all unearned) on four hits, walking one and fanning five.

Kendall Graveman (2-2, 5.79) was coming off his best start of the season in his last outing and fared pretty well, holding the New York Yankees to three runs on seven hits in nearly six innings of work. He was coming off six shutout innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in his previous start. The 24-year old did not face the Tigers in Oakland.

Tigers Lineup

1. Anthony Gose-CF
2. Jose Iglesias-SS
3. Miguel Cabrera-1B
4. Yoenis Cespedes-LF
5. Ian Kinsler-2B
6. J.D. Martinez-RF
7. Tyler Collins-DH
8. Nick Castellanos-3B
9. James McCann-C

Injuries

• Kyle Lobstein — 15-day DL
• Victor Martinez — 15-day DL
• Bruce Rondon — 15-day DL
• Alex Avila — 15-day DL
• Justin Verlander — 15-day DL
• Joe Nathan – Out for the Season

Next: Who Can Save the Tigers?