Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins Game 154 Preview, TV, Lineup

Detroit Tigers (72-81) vs. Minnesota Twins (78-75) — 7:08 PM ET

Comerica Park –Detroit, MI

TV: FSD

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket (click for affiliates)

Weather: 69 degrees, partly cloudy

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When We Last Met

The Detroit Tigers continued to spoil the Minnesota Twins playoff hopes as the Tigers erased a, 4-1, deficit and defeated the Twins, 6-4, on Friday night. Rajai Davis hit the game-winning two-run homer to right field with the game tied in the bottom of the eighth.

Detroit has beaten Minnesota in three of the last four contests between the two clubs. The Tigers are 11-6 against the Twins this season. Fortunately for Minnesota, they stayed 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the final Wild Card spot in the American League because the Astros also lost. The Los Angeles Angels, however, won and moved to within a 0.5 games of the Astros. Here are the AL Wild Card standings as of Saturday morning.

New York Yankees      84-69       +4.5
Houston Astros           80-74           –
Los Angeles Angels    79-74          0.5
Minnesota Twins        78-75          1.5
Cleveland Indians       76-76          3.0
Baltimore Orioles       76-77           3.5

Pitching Matchup 

Fresh off a horrible start versus the Kansas City Royals, the Tigers will send right-hander Alfredo Simon to the mound. Against the Royals on Sunday, he allowed eight runs on 13 hits, including three home runs in 4 1/3 innings. That raised his season ERA to 5.21. He is 13-10 with a 1.49 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 171 innings pitched. Hitters are also batting .280 against Simon this season.

The Twins will have 24-year-old Tyler Duffey on the hill Saturday. He is 4-1 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings this season. In his last outing, Duffey allowed no runs and just three hits in seven frames versus the Angels, picking up a huge victory. He also struck out seven and walked one in that game.

Actually, since his first major league start on Aug. 5 where Duffey allowed six runs in two innings, the right-hander has posted a 2.06 ERA over the last 43 2/3 innings. He doesn’t have much experience, but he could be the right man to stop the Twins losing streak to the Tigers on Saturday.

Detroit Tigers Lineup

The lineup will be posted once released.

Injuries

• Jose Iglesias — Day-to-Day
• Anibal Sanchez — 15-day DL
• Joe Nathan — Out for the Season

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