DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:
TIGERS EARN FIRST WIN OF 2023: The Tigers picked up their first win of the season last night, winning a back-and-forth affair against the Astros, 7-6, in 11 innings. Matt Vierling was the offensive hero of the night, going 4×5 with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the 11th inning. Riley Greene added a solo shot in the seventh inning, while Eric Haase drove in a pair of runs. Matthew Boyd started for Detroit and allowed two runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Mason Englert pitched 3.0 scoreless frames with two hits allowed. Trey Wingenter tossed a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win, while Garrett Hill gave up an unearned run in the 11th for his first save.
VIERLING’S BIG NIGHT: After starting the season 0x7, Matt Vierling broke out in last night’s win, going 4×5 with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning. The performance marked his third career game with four-or-more hits (last, five hits on September 21, 2022 vs. Toronto). Vierling’s homer in the 11th inning was his first career extra-inning homer and his third career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning-or later.
BULLPEN BITS: Making just his second career big league appearance, Mason Englert threw 3.0 shutout innings last night, giving up two hits. Prior to this season, Englert, who the Tigers selected in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in December, had started just 43 games in the Minors, including only three starts above High A…Trey Wingenter worked a scoreless 10th inning last night to notch the win. It marked his first big league victory since July 6, 2019 at Los Angeles (NL)…Garrett Hill closed out last night’s game, allowing an unearned run in the 11th inning to earn the first save of his professional career.
WELCOME BACK, MATT!: Matthew Boyd made his season debut for the Tigers last night, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. With three punchouts last night, Boyd now has 755 in his Tigers career, which is tied with Hank Aguirre for the seventh-most by a southpaw in franchise history. Boyd, who signed with the Tigers as a free agent this offseason, is in his
second stint with the organization after also pitching for the club from 2015-21.
EXTRA, EXTRA: The Tigers played their first extra-inning game of the season last night. In 2022, Detroit did not play its first extra inning game until the 43rd game of the season, which was the latest in a season since 1992 (game 58). The Tigers went 3-7 in extra-inning contests last season.
NOTES ON THE SEASON OPENING ROSTER:
Information about Detroit’s 26-man, season-opening roster:
- The roster consists of 13 pitchers (Tyler Alexander, Matthew Boyd, José Cisnero, Mason Englert, Jason Foley, Garrett Hill, Alex Lange, Matt Manning, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chasen Shreve, Spencer Turnbull, Joey Wentz, Trey Wingenter and 13 position players (Javier Báez, Miguel Cabrera, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Eric Haase, Ryan Kreidler, Nick Maton, Zach McKinstry, Austin Meadows, Jake Rogers, Jonathan Schoop, Spencer Torkelson, Matt Vierling)
- 8 are on an Opening Day roster at the Major League level for the first time (Carpenter, Englert, Greene, Hill, Kreidler, Maton, Rogers, Wentz)
- 9 were not active with the team in 2022 (Boyd, Englert, Maton, McKinstry, Rogers, Shreve, Turnbull, Vierling, Wingenter)
- 15 have less than three years of Major League service (Carpenter, Englert, Foley, Greene, Haase, Hill, Kreidler, Lange, Manning, Maton, McKinstry, Rogers, Torkelson, Vierling, Wentz
- 6 have five-or-more years of Major League service (Báez, Boyd, Cabrera, Cisnero, Rodriguez, Schoop
- 4 have been selected All-Stars (Báez, Cabrera, Meadows, Schoop)
TIGERS AND ASTROS: The Tigers and Astros continue their six-game series tonight. Along with this week’s three-game set in Houston, the
two teams will also meet at Comerica Park for three games from August 25-27. Detroit’s win last night snapped a seven-game losing streak
to Houston. The Astros have a 43-34 edge in the all-time series, including a 23-15 advantage in games played in Houston.
TIGERS ON THE IL:
• RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• RHP Michael Lorenzen (left groin strain, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• INF Tyler Nevin (left oblique strain, 10-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – Matt Manning • 0-0, 0.00 ERA (0IP/0ER)
• Manning will make his 2023 regular season debut tonight at Houston.
• Made five starts during Spring Training and had a 1-1 record with a 6.43 ERA (14.0IP/10ER) and 15 strikeouts.
• Will be making his first career appearance against the Astros tonight.
• Was limited to 12 starts during the 2022 season after missing much of the season due to injury…went 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA (63.0IP/24ER) and 48 strikeouts in 12 starts.
• Turned in the longest outing of his career on August 7 vs. Tampa Bay, throwing 7.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts…set a career-high with eight punchouts in 6.0 shutout frames on August 24 vs. San Francisco.
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champions, will play the middle game of their three-game series with the Tigers tonight behind their Opening Day starter LHP Framber Valdez…he’ll be opposed by RHP Matt Manning, who’s making his 2023 debut as the Tigers fifth starter.
THE FRAMCHISE: LHP Framber Valdez, a 2022 All-Star, has been one of the best pitchers in the Majors the last three-plus seasons (2020-23) as he leads the AL over that timespan in ERA (3.02), while ranking second in wins (33). AL Wins Leaders (2020-23) AL ERA Leaders (2020-23) Gerrit Cole: 37 Framber Valdez: 3.02 Framber Valdez: 33 Dylan Cease: 3.13 Dylan Cease: 32 Gerrit Cole: 3.24
AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker celebrated his 26th career Opening Day as a manager last week and his fourth at the helm in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in managerial wins with 2,095 wins, has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end…en route, he’d have to surpass Joe McCarthy (8th, 2,125), Bucky Harris (7th, 2,158) and Sparky Anderson (6th 2,194).
SEASON SWEEP: The Astros swept the Tigers in 2022, winning all seven of their games, including four games in Houston…the Tigers were one of three teams the Astros swept the season series from in 2022, also the Twins (6-0) and Mets (4-0).
WELCOME BACK!: This series, the Astros are welcoming back Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who managed the Astros to their 2017 World Series championship…Hinch went 481-329 in his five seasons (2015-19) managing the Astros, with those 481 wins ranking as the second-most in franchise history (Bill Virdon ranks first with 544 wins)…Hinch’s .594 winning percentage as the Astros manager also ranks second in club
history, trailing only Dusty Baker (.596, 232-157).
CONGRATS MIGGY!: The Astros will celebrate the Hall of Fame career of Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera in a pregame ceremony tomorrow…Cabrera, who announced his retirement at season’s end, has 3,090 career hits and 507 career homers, including 15 career homers against the Astros franchise.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros were handed a 7-6 loss in 11 innings last night, in what was their first extra-inning game of the regular season…Houston got a big bounce-back game from 3B Alex Bregman (3×5), who snapped an 0x16 by singling in his last three at-bats of the game…LF Yordan Alvarez (4RBI) had the big swing for Houston, a three-run homer that tied the game in the 5th…the Astros used six relievers on the night, who covered 6.1 innings, while allowing just two earned runs.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE CHANGE: The Astros and Twins game, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed to Friday due to the upcoming weather forecast in Minneapolis…the forecast calls for snow and cold temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday morning, followed by sunshine and 50˚ on Friday.
RACKIN’ UP RBI: LF Yordan Alvarez is off to a characteristically strong start into the young season, as he’s hitting .353 (6×17) with a double, two homers, nine RBI and a 1.186 OPS…Alvarez has driven in a run in all four of his games this season for a total of nine RBI…this marks just the seventh time in club history for a player to record nine-plus RBI within the Astros first five games of a season and the first time since 1B Tyler White also had nine RBI in the Astros first five games of the 2016 season.
SEÑOR CIEN: LF Yordan Alvarez connected for his 100th career home run last night, becoming the 19th player in franchise history to reach the 100-homer mark…Alvarez reached that mark in 372 games, the fastest by an Astros player, topping 1B Lance Berkman, who hit his 100th career homer in his 452nd game.
THE BROTHERS MATON: RHP Phil Maton and his brother IF Nick Maton are active against each other for the second regular season series of their careers…Nick, who played for the Phillies in 2022, was active against the Astros in both the regular season and the World Series last season…meanwhile Phil was active during the regular season, but not the World Series due to injury…the two faced each other in that other regular season series, on Oct. 5, 2022 in Houston, with Nick connecting for a single off of Phil.
COOGS’ HOUSE!: OF Corey Julks, a native of Friendswood, TX, will be the special guest today on the Matt Thomas Show on SportsTalk 790…Julks is a Houstonian in every aspect, attending Clear Brook HS and the University of Houston before being drafted by the Astros in the eighth round of the 2017 draft.
YESTERDAY’S ROSTER MOVES: OF Bligh Madris and IF J.J. Matijevic both cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple A yesterday…both players were designated for assignment when the Astros set their Opening Day roster on Thursday.
MINOR LEAGUE ASSIGNMENTS: The Astros officially set their minor league rosters yesterday in advance of Opening Day for Double A Corpus Christi and Class A Advanced Asheville on Thursday and Class A Fayetteville on Friday…notable assignments include OF Drew Gilbert and OF Jacob Melton, the Astros top two picks in the 2022 draft, being assigned to Asheville, while OF Colin Barber and IF Will Wagner will begin the season at Corpus Christi.
GODSPEED, RICH: Former Astros first base coach Rich Dauer, who served in that role in Houston for three seasons (2015-17), is currently rehabbing in Jacksonville after suffering a stroke in 2022…the Dauer family is kindly asking for donations to secure Rich with the necessary medical attention that he requires… donations can be made at https://gofund.me/4631fd03
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: LHP FRAMBER VALDEZ
LAST START – OPENING DAY – 3/30 vs. CWS tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowed 6 hits and struck out 4… became the 8th pitcher in Astros history (including his ‘22 start) to pitch 5-or-more scoreless innings on Opening Day.
AGAINST THE TIGERS: will face the Tigers for the 6th (5th start) time in his career.
• he’s recorded a 3.12 ERA (9ER/26IP) with 24 strikeouts, a .268 opponent batting average and a 65.8 groundball percentage.
• has recorded two complete games against the Tigers with the last one coming on Sept. 12, 2022 in Detroit….he tossed a complete game shutout with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts.
OPENING DAY STARTER: made his 2nd consecutive (and career) Opening Day start…is the first Astros pitcher to make back-to-back Opening Day starts since Justin Verlander (2018-21) • was the second Dominican-born pitcher to start Opening Day for the Astros, joining Wandy Rodriguez in 2012…was one of three Dominican-born pitchers to get Opening Day nod in ‘23, joining Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara and Mariners RHP Luis Castillo.
• was the third LHP in Astros history to make back-to-back Opening Days, joining Dallas Keuchel (2015-17) and Dave Roberts (1973-74)
• became the first Dominican-born pitcher in Astros history to pick up a winning decision on Opening Day in ‘22…tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 6 batters to 1 walk, in a 3-1 win at LAA.
THE 2022 CAMPAIGN: tossed 25 consecutive quality starts from 4/25 to 9/18, setting the MLB record for the most consecutive quality starts in a single-season…streak also was the longest streak in MLB this year and tied for the 2nd-longest streak in MLB history when including multiple seasons…also extended the Astros franchise record (previously held by RHP Mike Scott (20g) in 1986).
• led the Majors with 26 quality starts and was 1st pitcher in MLB to record 23 consecutive quality starts since RHP Jacob deGrom made 26 consecutive quality starts from 5/18/18-4/3/19… among AL starters, was 1st in IP (201.1), 1st in home runs per 9 IP (0.52), 1st in GB percentage (67.3), 2nd in wins (17), 6th in opponent OPS (.600) and 6th in ERA (2.82).
• finished 5th in AL Cy Young voting, with teammate Justin Verlander winning the award.
• Made his first career All-Star game roster in ‘22 after being selected through the player vote to Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium…picked up the winning decision in a 3-2 victory for the American League, after tossing a perfect 3rd inning in relief…was the 1st Astros pitcher and 5th Dominican-born pitcher to collect ASG winning decision and 1st since Pedro Martinez in ‘99.
WITH THE ‘STROS: signed by the Astros as a 21-year-old international free agent from the Dominican Republic on March 18, 2015.
• the left-hander has gone 41-23 with a 3.34 ERA (193ER/519.1IP) and 501 strikeouts in 99 games (77 starts) in the Majors with Houston from 2018-22.
• has been one of the AL’s most prolific starters since 2020, ranks 1st in the AL in opponent OPS .620), 2nd in wins (33), 4th in opponent’s batting avg (.225), 6th in innings (411.2), 7th in pitcher’s WAR (4.8) and 8th in strikeouts (399).
• has been a groundball machine in his Major League career…owns a career 66.6% groundball percentage, which ranks as the lowest percentage in the Majors from 2018-22 (min. 300 IP)… the next closest player is Giants RHP Logan Webb (56.8 %) …since ground ball percentage started being tracked in 1987, Valdez career ground ball percentage is the highest ever posted by a starting pitcher (min. 250 IP).
• has held left-handed hitters to a .205 average (79×385) and a .596 OPS in the Majors…has allowed just five homers to left-handed hitters in his career.
• for his career in the postseason, he’s recorded a 3.41 ERA (26 ER/68.2 IP) in 12 career games (12 GS)…since ‘20 leads all MLB pitchers in postseason wins (7), strikeouts (75), IP (68.2) and quality starts (7).
