The streaking Detroit Tigers can reach the 60-win mark as early as Wednesday when they host the Tampa Bay Rays.
Detroit has won five straight games, including the first two of the three-game series. The start time of Wednesday’s contest has been adjusted from 1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. ET due to inclement weather in the forecast during the afternoon.
Right-hander Zack Littell (7-7, 3.50 ERA) will start the series finale for the Rays. He has given up one earned run in each of his last three starts. In his last outing on Friday, a no-decision, Littell limited Minnesota to four hits in six innings in the Rays’ 4-3 loss.
He left with a lead, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it, as Tampa Bay fell on a ninth-inning walkoff.
“It happens. It’s not fun to watch,” Littell said. “I think any three of those guys will tell you that that’s just not the way they want to go out there and do what they do. So it definitely (stinks). It’s a really hard way to lose a game.”
Littell is 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA in eight career outings against the Tigers, including four starts.
He’ll be opposed by right-hander Reese Olson (4-3, 2.89 ERA). He made his first major league start since May 17 on Friday after recovering from a finger injury on his pitching hand. Olson gave up one run and six hits in 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Cleveland while throwing 89 pitches. Detroit won 2-1.
All but one of the six hits came in the first two innings.
“Little bit of adrenaline early on,” Olson said. “I felt a little sped up in those first two innings. But as the game went on, I got back into the groove of things and I was able to finish a little better than I started. I was getting too deep into counts, and the at-bats were just kind of dragging on. But pretty solid for my first one.
“Obviously I wanted to go a little longer, but I kept us in it and we won the game.”
Olson’s return settles a rotation that lost rookie Jackson Jobe to Tommy John surgery. Olson rejoins All-Star Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize to provide four reliable arms for manager A.J. Hinch. The fifth starter continues to be in flux.
In two career outings against Tampa Bay, Olson is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.
Colt Keith, who often has led off in recent weeks, has also led the offense. During a current 10-game on-base streak, Keith is batting .441 with seven extra-base hits. He had a homer and two doubles in the series opener and followed with an RBI single and tiebreaking two-run homer in a 4-2 win on Tuesday.
“He’s an impactful guy,” Hinch said. “That’s why I put him at the top of the order against these righties, because when the lineup flips, he’s going to put up a really good at-bat.”
Keith, who is in his second year, has raised his season average to .269 and OPS to .801.
“We need to remember he’s still scratching the surface of who he’s going to be and what he’s going to be at this level,” Hinch said.
–Field Level Media
