Orioles look to exact revenge from Tigers (Apr 26, 2018)
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have battled multiple problems with injuries and hitting throughout April. Even though the pitching has improved, it was an issue when the Orioles were swept by the Tigers in Detroit earlier this month.
In fact, the Orioles gave up 23 runs in that three-game series. Baltimore will be hoping for improvement in all areas as the team tries to snap its five-game losing streak when the Tigers come to town Friday night.
Starter Chris Tillman (0-4, 9.87 ERA) threw better in his last start for the Orioles, giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings in an April 21 loss to Cleveland. But Tillman has been nowhere near the pitcher he was in the past.
The former Baltimore ace is 1-11 since the start of 2017 after dealing with shoulder problems. Now, the question is how much time the Orioles feel they can give him with an ERA hovering near 10.
Tillman will go against Mike Fiers (2-1, 3.71), who has pitched well in all three starts. He's walked three batters all season and has a 2-0 career record against the Orioles (6-19) with a 1.29 ERA.
Tillman also has done well against the Tigers, with a 6-1 career record and a 3.12 ERA.
But the Orioles are dealing with numerous injury problems and got more bad news Thursday when infielder Tim Beckham had core muscle surgery and should be out for six to seven weeks.
"I know he feels a real peace of mind to get it behind him because it's something that I think has been a challenge for him in his career some, but nothing to the extent it was here lately," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "He feels good about getting it behind him. We've done four or five of those with real good results."
Showalter said second baseman Jonathan Schoop is coming along in his recovery from an oblique injury and could be coming closer to returning. No target date was given, and the Orioles could use help at this point from Schoop or other places.
The Tigers come to town having lost two of three to the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Detroit suffered a 1-0 loss Thursday on a ninth-inning homer from Corey Dickerson off Alex Wilson in the ninth.
The Tigers had their chances in the game, banging out eight hits, but they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded six. They just could not catch a break.
"Those guys were really trying," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire told MLB.com. "How many balls did we hit right on the button that they made plays on? Over and over. That's the way the game is. Sometimes you just fall into that kind of luck."
That's unusual for a Detroit team that is the seventh-best hitting team in the majors at .257.
The Tigers (10-13) are second in the American League Central, three games behind Cleveland.
Detroit's Miguel Cabrera is 9-for-18 during a six-game hitting streak after going 1-for-4 on Thursday, dropping his average to .325.
