Detroit Tigers at Chicago Cubs Game 118 Preview, TV, Lineup

Detroit Tigers (56-61) at Chicago Cubs (67-49) — 8:10 PM ET

Wrigley Field — Chicago, IL 

TV: FSD and MLB Network

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket (click for affiliates)

Weather:  78 degrees, light rain

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When We Last Met

Who would have guessed before the season that when the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs would meet in the middle of August that it would actually be the Cubs nearly 20 games above .500. Even two months ago when the Tigers and Cubs met in Detroit, that didn’t seem likely.

But here we are with Chicago right in the thick of things in the hotly contested NL Central, and Detroit five games below .500.

The last time these teams met on June 9 and 10, the two clubs split the two-game series. Detroit won the first game, 6-0, and Chicago responded with a, 12-3, victory the next day. Since that series, the Tigers are 25-32. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won 15 of their last 17 games.

Pitching Matchup

Right-hander Anibal Sanchez will take the mound for Detroit on Tuesday. Sanchez didn’t come into the season as a question mark, but he has become one in 2015. The 31-year-old has a 4.95 ERA and has an astonishing 28 home runs, which leads the league. He only allowed four homers last year.

In his last start alone against the Kansas City Royals, Sanchez tossed up three bombs and yielded five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Overall, Sanchez is 10-10 with a 1.27 WHIP and 136 strikeouts in 154 2/3 innings.

32-year-old right-hander Jason Hammel will start for the Chicago Cubs. He has been very good this season, but not as of late.

He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in each of his last three starts, however, Hammel has failed to pitch six innings in any of those outings. Four starts ago on July 26 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Hammel yielded six runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Hammel is 6-5 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 125 strikeouts in 127 2/3 innings this season.

Detroit Tigers Lineup

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

Injuries

• Kyle Lobstein — 60-day DL
• Joe Nathan – Out for the Season

Next: Detroit Tigers: 5 Worst Moves in Dave Dombrowski Era