It’s the start of an early-week set on the diamond between AL Central rivals ahead of the trade deadline in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Detroit Tigers are on the road as they open up a three-game series on the road with the Minnesota Twins Monday night. Detroit closed out a four-game series on the road with the Blue Jays losing three of four as they were knocked off 4-1 in the finale Sunday afternoon. Minnesota played the rubber game of a three-game interleague set on the road with the Padres Sunday afternoon. The Twins knocked off the Twins 7-4 in the middle game of that series Saturday night. In the season series, the Twins own an 8-5 advantage, including a two-game sweep on the road in the most recent set July 23-24.
Detroit went into Sunday with a shot at a split of the four-game series north of the border with the Blue Jays but ended up losing Sunday to drop three of four in the set. The Tigers entered Sunday fourth in the AL Central, 13 games behind the Twins for the division lead. In the AL wild card race, they were 13.5 games behind the Rays for the final wild card spot. On Sunday, Detroit finished the game with only three hits with no player recording more than one in the contest. Javier Baez accounted for the Tigers’ run with a solo homer, his 10th of the year, in the fourth inning. Garrett Hill (1-3) took the loss as he allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and one strikeout over five innings of work.
Tarik Skubal takes the hill for his 21st start of the season for the Tigers in this contest looking to continue his strong start to the year. He comes in 7-8 with a 3.67 ERA, a 1.163 WHIP, 30 walks and 113 strikeouts over 112.2 innings of work this season. Skubal didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came at home against the Padres Wednesday. He threw six innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in an eventual 4-3 walk-off Detroit victory. In his last three starts, Skubal is 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, five walks and 16 strikeouts over 18 innings of work. Skubal makes his ninth career start against the Twins in this contest. He comes in 2-3 with a 4.39 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP, 11 walks and 38 strikeouts over 41 innings of work. Skubal is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA, a 1.375 WHIP, eight walks and 22 strikeouts over 24 innings in five career starts at Target Field.