DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS FALL IN SERIES FINALE IN BOSTON: The Tigers lost to the Red Sox, 6-3, on Sunday. Akil Baddoo hit a solo home run, his seventh of the season, while Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry each had two hits. Miguel Cabrera and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run. Eduardo Rodriguez started for Detroit and took the loss, giving up six runs on 10 hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings. José Cisnero, Alex Lange and Brendan White each pitched a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.

KEEP CALM AND KERRY ON: Kerry Carpenter was on base twice during Sunday’s game against the Red Sox, going 1×3 with a double and a walk. With his two-bagger, Carpenter extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, which ranks as the second-longest active hitting streak in the American League, trailing only Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia (16 games). During his current streak, Carpenter is slashing .459/.500/.865 with three doubles, four home runs and six RBI.

GREENE MACHINE: Riley Greene went 2×4 with a double on Sunday, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Greene has hit safely in 49 of his last 60 games, over which he is batting .339/.402/.530 with 18 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 23 RBI. Among American League players with at least 300 plate appearances this season, Greene ranks fourth with a .307 batting average. Greene also leads all big leaguers age 23-or-younger in wRC+ (137), while he is seventh in fWAR (2.6).

POWER SURGE: Akil Baddoo launched a solo home run in Sunday’s game against the Red Sox, marking the ninth straight game where the Tigers have homered. It’s the Tigers longest single-season streak since a nine-game stretch from May 6-15, 2018.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 1-2 on their current nine-game road trip, which includes three games at Boston (1-2), two games at Minnesota (August 15-16) and four games at Cleveland (August 17- 20). Detroit is 27-32 on the road this season. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .222/.289/.367 away from Comerica Park, while the pitching staff has a 4.22 ERA (509.2IP/239ER).

TIGERS AND TWINS: The Tigers and Twins begin their final series of the season tonight. Detroit has gone 7-4 against Minnesota this season, including taking three-of-four games last week in Detroit. The Tigers have clinched the season series against the Twins for the first time since 2016.

AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: The Tigers continue divisional play tonight against the Twins. Detroit is 21-13 against American League Central teams so far this season. The Tigers have won eight of the 10 series they have played against divisional foes.

INJURY REHAB UPDATE: RHP Mason Englert began an injury rehab assignment with Triple A Toledo on Sunday, throwing a scoreless inning in relief and allowing one hit. Englert has been sidelined since July 24 with left hip tightness.

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

49 Alex Faedo • 2-4, 5.80 ERA (40.1IP/26ER)

• Faedo will make his ninth start of the season tonight in the series opener at Minnesota.
• Did not factor into the decision in his last start on Wednesday against the Twins, giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
• Has made two starts in his career against the Twins and has a 0-0 record with a 4.66 ERA (9.2IP/5ER) and 10 strikeouts…will be making his first career start at Target Field tonight.
• Threw 6.0 shutout innings with one hit allowed, four walks and two strikeouts on July 23 vs. San Diego…marked his first career start with 6.0 scoreless frames.
• Earned his first win of the season on May 25 vs. Chicago (AL), pitching 6.0 innings and allowing two runs on three hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts…became the third pitcher in franchise history to throw 6.0 innings with three-or-fewer hits allowed, no walks and 10-ormore strikeouts, joining Denny McLain on July 21, 1965 vs. Cleveland (Game 2) and Aníbal Sánchez on August 3, 2014 vs. Colorado.
• Has started eight games between Double A Erie and Triple A Toledo this season, compiling a 0-2 record with a 3.69 ERA (31.2IP/13ER) and 38 strikeouts.

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

FEDORAS ON AND DICE IN THEIR POCKET: The Twins completed their seven-game roadtrip with a record of 3-4, going 1-3 at Detroit last week, followed by a 2-1 series win in Philadelphia over the weekend…tonight, the Twins will begin a five-game, six-day homestand with the first of two against the Tigers…they will complete the series tomorrow afternoon, enjoy an off-day on Thursday, then play the Pirates for three games over the weekend…the Twins have gone 33-24 at home and 29-34 on the road…12 of the final 14 August games will be at Target Field.

SONNY GRAY’S THE MOST POPULAR GUY HERE NOW!: The Twins shut out the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park by a score of 3-0…Sonny Gray (6-5) was the starter and winner, allowing two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 6.0 shutout innings… Griffin Jax (17), Caleb Thielbar (8) and Emilio Pagán (6) each earned a hold, while Jhoan Duran earned his 21st save…the offense recorded 10 hits, three from Donovan Solano (all singles)…the top five in the batting order (Solano, Jorge Polanco, Jordan Luplow, Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez) combined to go 9-for-22…Polanco drove in two of the club’s three runs while Luplow drove in the other with his first home run of the season.

ROYCE ZIP LINING IN FROM ST. PAUL: The Twins have returned infielder Royce Lewis from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day Injured List…Lewis, who missed the Twins’ last 36 games with a left oblique strain, played in four games on rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, going 5-for-12 (.417) with two home runs and three walks…to make room for Lewis on the 26-man roster, the Twins have placed utility player Willi Castro on the 10-day IL with a mild left oblique strain.

In his last 11 major league games, Lewis is hitting .400 (16-for-40) with a 1.004 OPS.

COMPLICATED PATTERNS: The Twins and Tigers are playing the 12th of 13 meetings in 2023…the Twins have gone 4-7 vs. Detroit this season, going 1-3 at Target Field and 3-4 at Comerica Park…the Twins lost their last series with Detroit at Comerica Park, dropping three of four games from August 7-10.

The Twins have gone 34-15 at home against the Tigers since the start of the 2018 season… in fact, in that time frame, the Twins only lost two home series’ to the Tigers, holding a 12-2-1 series record in that span.

Carlos Correa is hitting .312 (29-for-93) with six doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and a .904 OPS in his last 23 games vs. the Tigers.

Jorge Polanco has reached safely in 11-straight games against the Tigers (.347 OBP).

Christian Vázquez is hitting .317 (32-for-101) with nine doubles, three home runs, 17 RBI and an .846 OPS in 29 career games vs. the Tigers. HE’S REAL,

HE LIVES WITH US ON EARTH: Sunday afternoon’s victory in Philadelphia marked Rocco Baldelli’s 350th career managerial win…below are the Twins’ all-time managerial wins leaders (left) and Baldelli’s milestone victories (right):

TWINS MANAGERIAL WINS BALDELLI’S MILESTONE WINS
Tom Kelly (1986-2001)………………………. 1140 1……………….. March 28, 2019 vs. Cleveland
Ron Gardenhire (2002-14)…………………. 1068 50………………. June 22, 2019 at Kansas City
Sam Mele (1961-67)…………………………… 522 100……..September 27, 2019 at Kansas City
Gene Mauch (1976-80)……………………….. 378 150…………………. May 15, 2021 vs. Oakland
Rocco Baldelli (2019-)……………………….. 350 200…… September 11, 2021 vs. Kansas City
Paul Molitor (2015-18)………………………… 305 250…………………June 25, 2022 vs. Colorado
Frank Quilici (1972-75)……………………….. 280 300…………….April 23, 2023 vs. Washington
Billy Gardner (1981-85)………………………. 268 350…………August 13, 2023 at Philadelphia

SLICKED BACK HAIR: Twins starters have struck out an MLB-best 739 batters and are on pace to strike out 997 hitters this season, which would shatter the club record of 870, done in 1967…in fact, 997 would land them eighth on baseball’s all-time list, behind the 2018 Astros (1,101), 2017 Guardians (1,066), 2018 Guardians (1,066), 2019 Astros (1,063), 2017 Nationals (1,012), 2019 Nationals (1,010) and 2017 Red Sox (1,001).

Their 739 strikeouts already rank as the ninth most in club history…next is the 1966 staff that had 742 (chart lower right).

BABY OF THE YEAR: On the season, Edouard Julien ranks in the top five among AL rookies in several offensive categories (minimum of 225 plate appearances):
AVG OBP SLG OPS OPS+ wOBA Yoshida – .300 Julien – .378 Y. Díaz – .512 Julien – .857 Julien – 137.6 Julien – .373 M. Garcia – .288 Noda – .375 Jung – .489 Casas – .836 Noda – 125.5 Yoshida – .372 Julien – .281 Yoshida – .357 Casas – .482 Yoshida – .824 Casas – 123.4 Casas – .361 Jung – .274 Casas – .354 Julien – .479 Jung – .813 Yoshida – 120.9 Noda – .355 Y. Díaz – .274 M. Garcia – .334 Yoshida – .468 Y. Diaz – .804 Jung – 120.0 Jung – .355

TC SLUGGERS: The Twins have hit 49 home runs since the All-Star break, the most in the AL and second most in baseball, trailing Atlanta (60)…on the season, they have homered 164 times, fourth most in the AL and seventh most in baseball…Max Kepler and Matt Wallner are Minnesota’s co-leaders in homers since the break, with seven each.

DRIVING CORR-OONER: Carlos Correa has hit safely in a season-high eight-straight games, his longest since September 18-27, 2022 (also 8)…it is tied for the third-longest active streak in the AL…his career high is 16, done in 2019 with Houston…a hit today would tie Edouard Julien for third-longest streak for a Twin this season (Jeffers — 14 and Solano — 11).

During the current streak, he is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI and a 1.229 OPS.

DOUBLES OF THE BARRACUDA AND THE ROADRUNNER: The Twins enter today with 199 doubles…the team leader in doubles is Carlos Correa, with 25, one more than his 2022 total…finally, Joey Gallo enters today needing two doubles to reach 100 for his career, sitting at 98.

D(UR)AN FLASHES: Jhoan Duran recorded his 21st save on Sunday afternoon at Philadelphia, giving him nine saves in his last 10 chances… on the season, Duran has posted a 12.02 K/9.0 IP ratio, a 2.76 ERA and a .210 opponent batting average…he is one of six pitchers in baseball with a minimum of 12.00 K/9.0 IP, 20 saves, a BAA under .210 and an ERA less than 3.00, the others being Alexis Díaz, Camilo Doval, Félix Bautista, Devin Williams and Josh Hader…additionally, Duran has thrown 269 pitches at 101+ mph this season, the most in baseball.

55 GAMES, 55 RBI, 995 GAMES…..: Carlos Correa needs five games played to reach 1,000 career games, sitting at 995.

In Correa’s final 55 games of the 2022 season, he hit .329 (69-for-210) with 10 doubles, nine home runs, 27 RBI and a .916 OPS.

Correa leads the team with 54 RBI this season, including nine RBI in his last eight games.
YOUR FIRST THOUGHT IS GREAT, I DON’T HAVE TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW: The Twins have gone 6-8 following an off-day in 2023…Minne- sota has six more off-days the rest of the way, with 42 left to play…they have two off-days in the next seven days (Thursday and Monday).

I LOVE THIS STUFF, I LOVE OLD STUFF!: On this day in 2011, Jim Thome hit two home runs in a 9-6 win at Detroit to become the eighth player to reach 600 home runs; Thome hit a two-run homer off Rick Porcello in the sixth for number 599, then a three-run shot against Daniel Schlereth in the seventh.

STARTING PITCHER – BAILEY OBER 17
2023: 6-6, 3.40 ERA CAREER: 11-12, 3.64 ERA

Making his 20th start of the season and 12th home start…also his 51st career start and
appearance.

Facing the Tigers for the third time this season and the seventh time in his career…is 0-1,
5.73 ERA (11.0 IP, 7 ER) with two walks and 17 strikeouts in his two previous starts in 2023.

Began the season with Triple-A St. Paul and was recalled when Kenta Maeda landed on the
15-day Injured List on April 29…since being inserted into the rotation, the Twins have gone
11-8 in his 19 starts.

Selected by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the College
of Charleston.

LAST START: Took his sixth loss of the season in his last start on August 9 at Detroit, a 9-5 Twins’ defeat at Comerica Park…pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five runs (4 earned) on a season-high tying 11 hits (1 HR), with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts…marked his most strikeouts since recording a career-high 10 strikeouts on September 27, 2022 vs. Chicago-AL…snapped his four-game streak with no walks issued after issuing a walk to Riley Greene in the first inning…Greene scored after a single by Kerry Carpenter, Matt Vierling also scored on a throwing error by Max Kepler… yielded consecutive RBI singles in the second inning to Greene and Vierling…pitched scoreless third and fourth innings…permitted his seventh home run in five games to Spencer Torkelson in the fifth inning…relieved by Emilio Pagán who pitched a scoreless sixth inning…Jordan Balazovic entered in the seventh inning; yielded a solo home run to Torkelson and an RBI single to Eric Haase…in the eighth inning, Vierling scored on a wild pitch and Balazovic allowed an RBI single to Carpenter.

Has yielded seven home runs in his last five starts, tying his career high over a five-game span (also, June 22-July 20, 2021 and June 30-July 25, 2021).

Has pitched five-innings-or fewer in three-consecutive starts, tying the third-longest streak in his career (also, September 6- September 18, 2021).

Marked his 50th career start…tied for the seventh-most strikeouts in the first 50 games by a Twins’ starter (254)…also owns the ninth-lowest ERA (3.64).

TWO STARTS AGO: Did not factor into the decision in his start on August 4 vs. Arizona, a 3-2 Twins’ victory…pitched 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on six hits (1 HR), with no walks and three strikeouts…tossed a career-high 104 pitches, passing his previous high of 102 done on May 16 at Los Angeles-NL…allowed a solo home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the second inning…yielded an RBI single to Jose Herrera in the fourth inning…pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning to end his outing…relieved by Dylan Floro in the sixth as the bullpen combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings…the Twins tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run by Max Kepler and took the lead in the seventh on a solo shot by Michael A. Taylor.

Marked a career-high four-consecutive starts without issuing a walk…became the 10th individual Twins starter to issue zero walks through at least four-consecutive starts.

AGAINST DETROIT: Facing the Tigers for the third time this season and the seventh in his career tonight…is 0-1, 5.73 ERA (11.0 IP, 7 ER) with two walks and 17 strikeouts in two starts against the Tigers this season; both at Comerica Park…is 1-2, 5.70 ERA (30.0 IP, 19 ER) with six walks and 33 strikeouts in his six previous career starts against the Tigers; the Twins are 4-2 in those starts… is 1-2, 3.63 ERA (39.2 IP, 16 ER) with five walks and 43 strikeouts in seven starts against the AL Central this season.

BACK AT HOME: Ober is making his 12th home start of 2023 tonight…Twins have won six of his 11 home starts this year, with Ober going 2-3, 3.03 ERA (62.1 IP, 21 ER) with 13 walks, 53 strikeouts and six quality starts…owns the eighth lowest walks-per-9.0-innings-pitched ration among American League starts at home this season (min. 10 GS)…is 4-3, 3.88 ERA (46.1 IP, 20 ER) with six walks and 54 strikeouts in eight road starts this season.

Has seen more success at Target Field than on the road in his career…is 6-4, 3.48 ERA (134.1 IP, 52 ER) with 30 walks and 130 strikeouts in 26 career home starts…in 24 road starts, he is 5-8, 3.82 ERA (122.2 IP, 52 ER) with 19 walks and 124 strikeouts.

LEFT AND RIGHT: Left-handed hitters are batting .246 (52-for-211) with 48 strikeouts and 14 walks against Ober after 19 starts this season…right-handed hitters are hitting .248 (50-for-202) with 59 strikeouts and five walks…lefties went 4-for-11 with two RBI and four strikeout against him in his last start on August 9 at Detroit while righties went 7-for-15 with two RBI and five strikeouts; tied for the most hits Ober has allowed to righties this season (also, June 20 vs. Boston)…in his career, left-handed hitters are batting .263/.321/.407 with 106 strikeouts against Ober…righties are hitting .233/.256/.444 with 148 strikeouts off him.

Owns the fifth-lowest opponent slugging percentage (.351) among qualifying American League pitchers (min. 19 GS)…also owns the 10th-lowest OPS (.651) against lefties this year.

Owns the fourth-lowest opponent on-base percentage against righties since 2021 (min. 50 GS), trailing Max Scherzer (.212), Cristian Javier (.243) and teammate Pablo López (.256).

ARSENAL: Ober has used a four-pitch mix in his 19 starts of the 2023 season, per Baseball Savant… mostly uses his slider against righties while relying on his changeup and curveball against lefties… threw 56 fastballs in his last start on August 9 at Detroit and allowed six hits off the pitch…recorded eight of his nine strikeouts off his fastball…allowed a home run on a changeup for the second time this season…here’s a look at his repertoire:

PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (#, vs. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (91.3)………. 46.0% (790 pitches, 363/427). .257 (46-for-179), 11 2B, 8 HR, 49 K
Changeup (83.4)……………….. 25.8% (443 pitches, 161/282)… .246 (30-for-122), 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 31 K
Slider (81.1)………………………. 20.6% (353 pitches, 265/88)…… .247 (20-for-81), 6 2B, 5 HR, 23 K
Curveball (77.6)………………….. 7.6% (131 pitches, 30/101)……………….. .194 (5-for-31), 1 2B, 4 K

Currently has a run value of six on his changeup, tied for the eighth highest in all of baseball (min. 100 plate appearances).

His .225 opponent batting average across all of his secondary pitches (changeup, slider and curveball) is the 14th lowest in the American League.