Detroit Tigers split first two games of series in Oakland

The Detroit Tigers began a three-game series with Oakland last night and won the first game in extra innings, but lost the second game.

The Detroit Tigers began a three-game series in Oakland last night and won the first game in extra innings, but then lost the second game tonight by a large margin. Taking a game off a team as good as the Athletics is a good sign for the Tigers, even if they did end up losing the next game by a boatload.

Last night’s win was highlighted by some clutch offensive moments. Dawel Lugo and Christin Stewart both had great nights. Lugo went three-for-five with two RBI’s and scored the game-winning run off of a double courtesy of Willi Castro. Stewart went two-for-four with two RBI’s and he also scored a run on the night. Miguel Cabrera also contributed, going two-for-three with a walk and scoring a run himself.

The Tigers started tonight’s game off on the right foot, going up two to nothing in the second inning off of a two-RBI single hit by Harold Castro. This lead was short-lived, however, as the Athletics would score ten runs over the course of the game and Detroit’s bats would stay silent. Harold Castro and Travis Demeritte both had solid offensive nights despite this.

Most of the damage done in tonight’s game came with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound. Zimmermann has not had a good season at all, and tonight didn’t make it any better. He gave up six runs over five innings on seven hits with only two strikeouts. This would give him his tenth loss on the season with only one win so far.

Detroit and Oakland play the rubber match tomorrow at 4:07 p.m. EST. Daniel Norris will take the mound for Detroit with a 3-11 record and a 4.76 ERA. Norris has been on limited innings over his last few starts, so don’t be surprised to see Drew VerHagen or another reliever come in after the third inning.