Series 23 (of 52) Preview: Tigers Visit Houston

After posting a 3-3 record on their recently concluded road trip, the Astros host the Tigers three times starting tonight.

This is the second time this season these two have faced off. Houston won two of three games from May 10 to 12, winning the rubber match by a final score of 9-3. Justin Verlander (2-1, 3.38 ERA) played a key role in the victory, striking out eight in seven shutout innings with two hits. He walked two and got 61 offerings out of 95 on the plate. All nine positions in the batting order collected at least one hit, while Kyle Tucker hit his 13th home run of the season. Mauricio Dubón (four singles), Jake Meyers (three singles), Yordan Alvarez (single, double), Jon Singleton (two singles), Yainer Díaz (two singles) and Joey Loperfido (single, double) each finished with multiple hits for the good guys, who totaled 18 to Detroit’s six.

I thought we had a good plan to capitalize on mistakes, then I realized early on that there weren’t going to be many mistakes to capitalize on. — Spencer Torkelson, reflecting on Verlander

Although Houston holds a 48-37 edge in head-to-head games against the Tigers, their Pythagorean total sits at a slightly more pedestrian 43-42. The resulting winning percentage (.545) is Houston’s best against an AL Central opponent and their fourth-best record overall.

Houston just finished a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at 3Com Park. The Astros managed to win only the second game of the set to tie the series before dropping the rubber match. In this intermediate competition last Tuesday, starting pitcher Ronel Blanco (6-2, 2.67) earned the victory, striking out eight in six innings on one-run, three-hit ball. Ryan Pressly earned his second save of the season with a perfect ninth, striking out two. Dubón led Houston’s offense with two doubles, while Singleton drove in two singles.

He throws hard. He throws an assortment of breakable balls. Just enough fastballs to keep you from breaking things. He currently has a 2.60 ERA. We just couldn’t solve it. We couldn’t make him work hard enough. He ended up pitching six innings, just one walk, eight strikeouts. It was just difficult to put him in a situation. —Bob Melvin, on Blanco.

The TIgers are coming off a three-game homestand against the Washington Nationals, losing the first two before posting a 7-2 win on the road. In Detroit’s lone win, Justyn-Henry Malloy homered (2) and doubled, with three RBIs to pace the Tigers. Andy Ibáñez (single, double), Mark Canha (two singles) and Ryan Kreidler (two singles) also finished with multiple hits for the Big Cats. Casey Mize started and got no decisions, limiting the Nats to 1 run in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, Shelby Miller (4-4, 3.80).

He wasn’t at his best, but that’s pretty good for six innings and one run, considering how we got there in the last few starts. -AJ Hinch

Game times and starting pitchers

Friday, 7:10 p.m. CT: Tarik Skubal (8-1, 1.92) vs. Hunter Brown (2-5, 5.58)
Saturday, 3:10 p.m. CT: Jack Flaherty (3-4, 3.22) vs. Justin Verlander (3-2, 3.95)
Sunday, 1:10 p.m. CT, Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.89) vs. Spencer Arrighetti (3-5, 5.33)