Tigers Look For Series Win Over Rays
TIME: 01:10 P.M. EST
VENUE: Tropicana Field
A defensive misfortune ended the Detroit Tigers' winning streak. Another strong outing from Doug Fister might help them begin a new one.
The AL Central-leading Tigers look to bounce back from a frustrating defeat when they conclude their four-game road set with the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
Detroit's five-game run was snapped with a 3-2, 10-inning loss Wednesday. The game ended when Elliot Johnson hit a bases-loaded ground ball with two outs to third baseman Brandon Inge, who threw to second where Ramon Santiago was late getting to the bag.
"I thought he was out," Inge said. "A lot of other guys did, too. It's not fun when it goes down like that and the game should still be going on."
Regardless of how the Tigers (70-59) felt about the play, they still have a six-game lead over Cleveland in the Central. All-Star catcher Alex Avila, who homered for the second time in the series, has hit .418 with six home runs and 16 RBIs in his last 20 games.
Detroit will now try to win this series and continue to provide some offense for Fister (5-13, 3.49 ERA).
After he allowed a season-high eight runs - six earned - in an 8-5 loss at Baltimore on Aug. 14, Fister give up a homer and struck out seven in seven innings of a 10-1 win over the Indians on Saturday.
Fister has received an average of 7.06 runs of support while going 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA in four starts since being acquired from Seattle, where he got 1.97 runs of support while going 3-12 with a 3.33 ERA in 21 outings.
"I feel like I'm still thinking it's 0-0, no matter what the score is," Fister told the Tigers' official website.
While with the Mariners on June 4, Fister yielded three runs in seven innings of a 3-2 loss to fall to 1-2 with a 4.00 ERA against the Rays (70-58).
With slugger Miguel Cabrera missing this game while on paternity leave, the Tigers could be in for a challenge against Jeremy Hellickson (11-8, 3.04).
The right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA in two career starts against Detroit, allowing seven hits and striking out 11 in 13 1-3 innings. He surrendered two runs over 6 1-3 innings of a 6-3 loss at Comerica Park on May 23.
After he allowed four runs in 4 1-3 innings of a 9-2 loss at New York on Aug. 13, Hellickson went eight innings in an 8-0 win over Seattle on Saturday. He is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA in seven outings since posting a 4.74 ERA during a four-start skid.
"I (feel) really good," Hellickson told the Rays' official website. "I just wanted to come out and attack the zone better than I did (against the Yankees)."
Evan Longoria homered and Johnny Damon added two hits to give him 2,700 for his career as the Rays avoided a third straight defeat by winning for the 14th time in 20 games Wednesday.
Longoria is 9 for 28 (.321) with four homers and eight RBIs in his last seven games. Damon has hit .368 (14 for 38) with six RBIs in his last nine.
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