Detroit Tigers: Turnbull looked great despite losing

The Detroit Tigers opened their final series at home this season with a loss to the Minnesota Twins, despite a great performance from their starter.

The Detroit Tigers opened their final series at home in the 2019 season against the Minnesota Twins tonight with a four to two defeat. Despite the loss, Spencer Turnbull looked spectacular on the mound tonight.

Turnbull pitched six scoreless innings until he ran into trouble and gave up two runs in the seventh. Unfortunately, these two runs would earn him the loss on the game, bringing him to 3-16 on the season. Turnbull recorded five strikeouts on the game and two walks. He kept his pitch count low and had good velocity and command on his pitches, this is a good sign moving into the offseason for the young starter.

Detroit’s offense couldn’t pick it up and get Turnbull the win. Dawel Lugo had a nice night, going two-for-four with two doubles and an RBI. Other than him, the offense looked quiet. The Tigers struck out 12 times and only walked once on the night. They also left five runners on base. Jake Rogers had a big chance with runners on first and third, but he couldn’t come through when it mattered.

If Minnesota is able to win their next two games and sweep Detroit, they will clinch the AL Central. The Tigers have two more opportunities to play spoilers, but it is likely that Minnesota will get it done. The Twins also have another easy series after facing Detroit, as they will play the Kansas City Royals for their last season series.

The series continues tomorrow night at 6:40 p.m. EST. Daniel Norris and (probably) Drew VerHagen will get to pitch for Detroit. The last several times Norris has taken the mound he has been relieved by VerHagen after three innings of work. Their last outing didn’t go so well, but they will have a chance to turn it around in this one.