DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:
TIGERS TAKE THREE OUT OF FOUR FROM TWINS: The Tigers clinched the series against the Twins with a 3-0 win on Thursday. Reese Olson started for Detroit, scattering two hits over 6.0 innings with three walks and eight strikeouts. Chasen Shreve pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout, while Beau Brieske pitched the final 2.0 innings for his second save of the season. Offensively, Riley Greene had a pair of hits, including a solo home run, while Zach McKinstry went 1×3 with a double and two RBI.
ROSTER MOVES: The Tigers have announced the following roster moves:
*Designated LHP Chasen Shreve for assignment
*Reinstated RHP Will Vest from the 15-day injured list
GREENE MACHINE: Riley Greene went 2×4 with a solo home run in yesterday’s win. The homer, which was his 10th of the season, traveled 453 feet, which was the longest of his career and tied for the fifth longest by a Tigers player at Comerica Park since 2015. Greene has hit safely in 46 of his last 57 games, over which he is batting .332/.398/.527 with 17 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 21 RBI. Among American League players with at least 300 plate appearances this season, Greene ranks seventh with a .301 batting average.
A CARPENTER AND HIS TOOLS: Kerry Carpenter went 1×4 in Thursday’s series finale against the Twins, extending his hitting streak to a career-best seven games. During the recently completed homestand, Carpenter went 13×27 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Over his last 14 games, Carpenter is batting .320/.370/.420 with two doubles, a home run and six RBI.
PITCHING CONTINUES TO SHINE: The Tigers posted their 11th shutout of the season yesterday. Of their 11 shutouts, five have come since the All-Star break. Detroit’s 11 shutouts ranks tied for third in the American League and are the most in a season for the Tigers since the 2015 team had 12.
ON THE ROAD: The Tigers tonight begin a nine-game road trip, which includes three games at Boston (August 11-13), two games at Minnesota (August 15-16) and four games at Cleveland (August 17-20). Detroit is 26-30 on the road this season. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .223/.291/.365 away from Comerica Park, while the pitching staff has a 4.23 ERA (484.2IP/228ER).
TIGERS AND RED SOX: The Tigers and Red Sox begin their final series of the season tonight. The two teams met in early April in Detroit with Boston sweeping a three-game set. In 2022, the Tigers went 1-5 against the Red Sox, including losing all three games at Fenway Park.
TIGERS ON THE IL:
- LHP Tyler Alexander (left lat/shoulder strain, 60-day IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3)
- LHP Matthew Boyd (left elbow sprain, 60-day IL on June 27)
- RHP Mason Englert (left hip tightness, 15-day IL on July 24, retroactive to July 23)
- OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
- RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
- RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
- RHP Spencer Turnbull (neck discomfort, 60-day IL on May 12, retroactive to May 7)
TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER
29 Tarik Skubal • 2-1, 3.57 ERA (27.0IP/11ER)
- Skubal will make his seventh start of the season tonight in the series opener at Boston.
- Picked up his second win of the season on Saturday against Tampa Bay, allowing an unearned run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
- Has made two starts in his career against the Red Sox, posting a 1-1 record with a 5.59 ERA (9.2IP/6ER) and nine strikeouts…his only career start at Fenway Park came on June 22, 2022, when he took the loss after giving up six runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
- Picked up his first win of the season on July 24 vs. San Francisco, throwing 5.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, no walks and nine strikeouts…was his first Major League win since July 21, 2022.
- Did not allow a run in his first two starts this season…had a streak of 27.0 innings without giving up an earned run, dating back to July 13, 2022.
- Made his season debut for Detroit on July 4 vs. Oakland, throwing 4.0 hitless innings with no walks and six strikeouts…his only baserunner came on a hit by pitch…marked his first start in the Majors since August 1, 2022 vs. Minnesota.
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox won 3 of their 4 games vs. KC from Mon.-Thu. following a 4-game losing streak. Despite losing 8 of their 10 games from 7/29-8/8, the Sox own the AL’s 3rd-best record since 6/14 (27-20). They’re 20-13 since 6/30, the 6th-best mark in MLB. At 60-55 (.522), Boston owns MLB’s 12th-best record.
SERIES BUSINESS: With their win last night, Boston improved to 20-15-2 in series play, including 12-7-0 at home. They are 7-4-0 in their last 11 series, beginning 6/30. Last season, the Sox didn’t win their 20th series until 9/16-18 vs. KC (began 20-22-5)…They’ve matched their number of home series victories in 2022 (12-10-4).
SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox are tied for the MLB lead in doubles (254)…They rank 2nd in the AL in AVG (.261) and XBH (396), and 4th in OBP (.327), SLG (.431), and OPS (.758). In their last 30 games since 6/30, Boston leads the AL in AVG (.269) and ranks 2nd in SLG (.461) and OPS (.784).
RED SOX OFFENSE BY DATE
Dates Record AVG OPS Runs/G
3/30-5/6 21-14 .273 .800 5.9
5/7-6/13 12-21 .243 .704 3.8
6/14-7/27 22-12 .281 .803 5.4
7/28-pres. 5-8 .226 .663 3.2
HOME COOKING: Boston is 12-5 in its last 17 home games and 33-27 overall, compared to 27-28 on the road. At home, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.286)…They also rank 2nd in OBP (.351), 3rd in OPS (.814), 4th in SLG (.463), and 5th in runs scored per game (5.37.
BACK TO THE GRIND: The Sox are 3-4 so far on their season-long 10-game homestand (0-3 vs. TOR, 3-1 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET). Boston is in a stretch of 32 games in 34 days, from 7/28-8/30…They will only have 1 day off (8/14) in a 27-day span from 8/4-30. After their off day this coming Monday, the Sox will play a game on 16 consecutive days from 8/15-30.
IT’S GO TIME: On Monday, the Red Sox began a stretch of 10 straight games against teams who currently hold a record below .500 (3-1 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET, 3 at WSH). Those 3 teams are a combined 139-209 (.399). Prior to this stretch, Boston played 11 straight games against teams at or above .500…They went 4-7 over that span (2-0 vs. ATL, 1-2 at SF, 1-2 at SEA, 0-3 vs. TOR). 6 of the Sox’ 11 series from 7/7-8/17 are against teams that entered today with a record of .500 or lower.
SOX & TIGERS: The Red Sox swept the Tigers in a 3-game series at Comerica Park from 4/6-9, outscoring DET 24-9. They have won 8 consecutive games vs. DET, beginning 4/11/22. The Sox are 8-1-1 in their last 10 series against the Tigers, dating back to June 2017.
CENTRAL TIME: The Red Sox are 14-9 against AL Central teams this season, after going 18-15 in 2022. Monday began a stretch of 7 straight games against AL Central teams (3-1 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET). They’re 4-2-1 in series against AL Central opponents (3-0 at DET, 2-1 vs. MIN, 2-1 vs. CLE, 1-2 at CLE, 2-2 at MIN, 1-2 at CWS, 3-1 vs. KC).
CITY CONNECT: Boston will wear their Nike City Connect Series uniforms tonight for the 5th consecutive game. Last night, the Sox improved to 24-5 overall in their
City Connect uniforms, including 9-1 in 2023. They’ve outscored opponents 150-89 in the jerseys. The uniform adopts the blue and yellow colors that honor the spirit of Patriots Day weekend, and features “Boston” in a stencil font across the chest paying tribute to the Boylston Street finish line.
SETTING SALE: Chris Sale was reinstated from the 60-Day IL today and will make his 1st start since 6/1 vs CIN. The Sox are 8-3 in Sale’s starts this season, including 5-1 in his last 6…He’s 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA, .191 opponent AVG, and 8.20 SO/BB (41 SO, 5 BB) in his last 6 ML starts. Sale did not allow a run in either of his 2 rehab starts for Triple-A Worcester at Syracuse on 8/1 (2.0 IP, 40 pitches) and 8/6 (4.1 IP, 53 pitches). He’s 1 SO shy of tying Eduardo Rodriguez (892) for 12th-most in Red Sox history, and 8 SO shy of tying Clay Buchholz (899) for 11th-most (see box on right).
THE CLOSING ACT: Kenley Jansen earned a save in each of the Red Sox’ last 2 games, his 25th and 26th saves this season and 416th and 417th of his career. Jansen has converted each of his last 17 save opportunities since 5/20, the 2nd-longest active streak of successful save chances (TOR’s Jordan Romano-18). He is the 1st Red Sox pitcher to record 25+ saves in a season since Craig Kimbrel in 2018 (42)…Only 4 other pitchers have ever earned 25+ saves in as many as Jansen’s 11 seasons (see below).
MOST SEASONS WITH 25+ SAVES (MLB HISTORY)
Rk. Player Years Seasons
- Mariano Rivera 16 1997-2011,’13
- Trevor Hoffman 14 1995-2002, ‘04-09
- Lee Smith 13 1983-1995
T4. Kenley Jansen 11 2012-2019, ‘21-23
John Franco 11 1986-1991, ‘94-98
MARTY PARTY: Since 6/9, Chris Martin has allowed only 1 run over his last 23 outings (20.2 IP)…His 0.44 ERA over that span is 2nd best in MLB (min. 15.0 IP). Overall, his 1.45 ERA (6 ER/38.1 IP) is 4th best in the majors (min. 30.0 IP)…His 0.44 home ERA (1 ER/20.1 IP) ranks 2nd in MLB (Josh Hader-0.42; min. 20.0 IP).
LOCK IT DOWN: The Red Sox own MLB’s best record when leading after 6 innings (45-3, .938)…In 2022, they ranked 18th in MLB when leading after 6 (63-10, .863). Boston leads MLB in save % (76.7; 33-for-43). Since July 1, Kenley Jansen ranks T-2nd in the AL with 10 saves…Overall, he ranks 5th in the AL with 26.
HIGH FIVE: Boston owns MLB’s best record when scoring 5+ runs (47-7, .870)…They have scored 4 runs or fewer in 7 of their last 8 games since 8/2 at SEA. Since 6/14, they’ve won 20 of their last 21 games when scoring 5+ runs, including each of their last 6 since 7/22.
LATE SURGE: Boston has scored 240 runs in innings 6-9, 3rd most in the AL behind TEX (250) and HOU (246)…They rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB in hits during those innings (431; TOR-432, MIA-460).
ON THE MEND: Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock are currently on rehab assignments with Triple-A Worcester. Houck is scheduled to start Game 1 of a doubleheader vs. Buffalo today…He made his 1st rehab start Saturday at Syracuse (1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 46 pitches). Whitlock made his 1st rehab appearance Wednesday vs.
Buffalo, allowing 2 hits over 2.1 IP (3 SO, HB, 46 pitches).
TONIGHT’S STARTER: 41 CHRIS SALE – LHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 5-2 4.58 11 11 59.0 30 8 15 71 1.19 .243
CAREER 119-77 3.08 334 254 1737.0 595 186 402 2135 1.05 .220
Missed the Sox’ last 59 games while on the IL with left shoulder inflammation (6/2-8/10). The Sox are 8-3 in his starts this season (3-0 in last 3). In his last 6 starts, is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, .191 opponent AVG, 41 SO, and only 5 BB (36.0 IP, 9 ER, 25-for-131, 3 HR). Has allowed only 3 HR over his last 8 starts, all solo (5 HR in his first 3 starts). Ranks 13th in Red Sox history with 891 SO, only 1 behind Eduardo Rodriguez (892, 12th). In 34 career outings vs. DET (24 GS), is 11-8 with a 3.03 ERA (60 ER/178.1 IP)…This will be his 25th start against the Tigers, breaking a tie with KC for his most vs. any opponent. Owns the Modern Era’s highest SO/9.0 IP rate (11.06) (min. 1,000 IP).
