Alex Faedo had the best outing of his major league career last week. The right-hander will try to match that performance when he and the Detroit Tigers host the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Faedo (1-2, 4.15 ERA) struck out a career-high 10 while collecting his first win this season Thursday. He limited the Chicago White Sox to two runs and three hits and didn’t issue a walk in six innings of a 7-2 victory.
“He was incredible,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of the right-hander. “I think from the get-go he had pretty good (velocity), pretty good slider, mixed in some changes late. He was attacking these guys and got them to chase counts and executed some chase pitches to get his punch-outs. He finished strong.”
The offense supported him with a four-run fourth. He allowed a homer to Gavin Sheets in the fifth but bounced back in the sixth.
“He’s getting himself into counts where he can expand the zone a little bit, expand the plate and pitch to less hittable pitches and not just focus middle-middle,” Hinch said. “We had a long inning where it felt like he was sitting over on the bench for a long time, and when he went out, he wasn’t sharp.
“He gave up the homer but settled back in. And then not just finishing that inning but going out the next inning should give him a lot of confidence.”
Faedo, 1-5 in 12 starts as a rookie last season, will be making his fifth start this season and first career appearance against the Rangers.
Martin Perez (6-1, 3.83 ERA) is scheduled to start for Texas. The veteran lefty has won his last two starts while going seven innings each time.
He held Colorado to two runs and seven hits while striking out seven of a 7-2 win on May 19, then limited Pittsburgh to two runs and six hits Wednesday in a 3-2 victory. Perez was aided by two double plays against the Pirates.
“I was a little too quick with my delivery,” Perez said. “And too fast between pitches. But I never lost my head. I got it together. That was a key to the game for me.”
In his previous two outings, the left-hander gave up a combined 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings. Perez is 2-5 with a 6.00 ERA in 11 career outings (10 starts) against the Tigers.
Texas second baseman Marcus Semien will look to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. He kept the streak alive with a ninth-inning single Monday.
Corey Seager was the hitting star, cranking a three-run homer and driving in four runs in a 5-0 win in the series opener.
“Corey woke us up with that three-run homer,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
Seager has driven in 19 runs since coming off the injured list May 17.
“It’s just a product of the lineup,” he said. “You have guys on, you have more chances to drive runs in — and that’s just one through nine. Everybody’s swinging the bat well and taking their walks.”
Texas has the second-best record in the American League, trailing only Tampa Bay.
“It feels good. You have to keep marching, though,” Bochy said. “It’s only a third of the season, that means we have a lot of games left. I just love the way they’re coming out here ready to go.”
–Field Level Media
