Detroit Tigers: Tigers continue road trip in Baltimore

After losing two of three games to the New York Mets in the Big Apple, the Detroit Tigers continue their road trip with a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore beginning on Monday.

Well, at least the losing streak ended before it hit double digits for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won their first game in nearly two weeks by defeating the Mets 9-8 on Friday night.

Even though Friday’s game would be the only one that Detroit would win in their trip to the Big Apple, the Tigers put up a fight and had chances to win both of the remaining games in the series. They fell to the Mets on Saturday in a 13-innings standoff due to a walk-off homer from New York pinch hitter Tomas Nido, while Sunday’s series finale ended 4-3 with the Tigers losing after a controversial called third strike to JaCoby Jones in the game’s final at-bat.

Speaking of JaCoby Jones, the centerfielder for the Detroit Tigers was in probably the best form we have seen him in all year over the holiday weekend. The 27-year-old went 6-14 at the plate over the weekend against the Mets with 5 RBI, four of them coming in Friday’s win. A solid weekend in the batter’s box pulled Jones’ BA to above .200 for the first time since April 18th.

Looking to the Tigers’ next foe, the Baltimore Orioles, things are going about as bad as expected for them so far in 2019, which you could probably say the same for about Detroit. The O’s finished 2018 with the worst record in baseball at 47-115. Now sitting at just 16-37 to start the year, Baltimore currently holds the worst record in the American League. However, having the worst record in the National League did not stop the Miami Marlins from sweeping the Detroit Tigers, so no wins are guaranteed this week.

Like Detroit, Baltimore has been a team struggling to find its stride at the plate so far this year, with just one everyday lineup hitter above .300. That would be OF Trey Mancini, who is hitting .307 with 26 RBI this season. The Orioles also get much of their offensive help from OF Dwight Smith Jr. who leads the team with 31 RBI.

Detroit sends lefty Daniel Norris to the mound for the series opener on Monday. Norris looked in decent form his last time out against Miami on Wednesday, throwing six innings and allowing two runs on six hits and not being credited with the loss. He will go against Baltimore’s righty Gabriel Ynoa, who is usually a bullpen guy who is making his first start of 2019 with a 5.60 ERA.

Even though they won just one game over the weekend against New York, things seem to be looking up for the Detroit Tigers. They played competitively and had chances to win both remaining games in the series. With the frustrating losing streak behind them, hopefully, Detroit can keep up this more competitive form than usual against one of the few teams in the AL with a worse record.

First pitch for Monday’s series opener against Baltimore is set for 1:05 pm from Camden Yards.