As many of you are aware,  I have started my career as a sports journalist in Youngstown, Ohio. It has been a while since I’ve been able to have a chance to write about what I love most, which is Detroit sports and especially the Detroit Tigers. The team had a great streak going until they ran into the Cleveland Indians. The people at the office gave me some duff but I’m not concerned about losing to the Tribe. Obviously, the concern is the ineffectiveness of the starting pitchers in the last few games.

But I’m not all worried. Here is what Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, (who I think is pretty good by the way) had to say about his starters and their 9.28 ERA over the last four games.

“Regardless of your team, you are going to go through a stretch where you don’t get the starting pitching you need, and it taxes your bullpen, and things start to snowball from there,” manager Brad Ausmus said.

In the last four games, the Tigers have had their offensive keep them close in 2 of the 3 games in Cleveland but reliever Al Alburquerque, found a way to lose both of them. One was via a walk-off homer by Michael Brantley and a walk-off balk in the 13th inning of Wednesday contest.

However, it’s baseball and you have to keep moving forward, since they do play so many games. Tonight, the Tigers will face a familiar pitcher, Scott Baker.  Baker is making his first start of the season for the Rangers. Baker was a longtime pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and has a long history against the Tigers.

“He’s got experience,” Washington said. “He’s been out there trying to get 27 outs before. We’ll give him a shot. Where we are is giving guys opportunities so he’ll get an opportunity.”

Here is some other stats for you:  Baker is 7-5 with a 4.71 ERA in 23 career starts against Detroit. Miguel Cabrera is 12 for 35 against him with three home runs.

Prediction: I do work tonight so I will have to keep track online but I think the Tigers will take out their recent frustration and score 6 runs off of Baker. Also think that Anibal Sanchez will pitch solid enough to get the win. He was impressive in his last start at Boston but does have a rough history facing the Rangers. Sanchez is 0-3 with a 9.49 ERA and .393 opponent average in three career starts against Texas.

With that said, I believe the Tigers get back on track and defeat a somewhat depleted Texas lineup, 8-3.

P.S. Thank you for all the support of the website and Rob and I careers. The support is much appreciated. We will continue to write as often as we can.