The Detroit Tigers travel to Oakland to take on the Oakland Athletics in a doubleheader as both teams kick off the second half of the 2022 season. The Tigers and A's both hope for better fortunes in the second half as each team has struggled to get out from the bottom half of their respective divisions. The pitching matchup for Thursday's opener will feature Joe Smith (0-0,0.00) of Detroit taking on Frankie Montas (3-9, 3.26) of Oakland. This will be a brief two game series before Detroit heads home and Oakland travels to Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 707pm EST.
The Detroit Tigers finished the first half at 37-55 and just a game up on the Royals just out of the basement in the AL Central Division. They are 12 games back of the division-leading Minnesota Twins. On Thursday, the Tigers will be wrapping up a long road trip with their 12th and 13th games straight on the road in a doubleheader. The Tigers had an extended all-star break with their final game of the first half rained out in Cleveland. They will travel back home to take on the Twins in a two-game set on Saturday and Sunday.
Say hi to Bad Bunny's newest bodyguard: Miggy.@MiguelCabrera X @sanbenito pic.twitter.com/qMIUMzKFlV
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 19, 2022
The Tigers have struggled through much of the first half of the season. The Tigers are last in baseball in runs per game thus far this season. At one point, the Tigers were on a near record pace to end with a runs per game average under three runs per game. They are currently averaging 3.13 runs per game. In addition, they are 29th in slugging percentage and 29th in on base percentage. The Tigers hope that a full second half with youngsters Riley Greene and Willi Castro will produce a more potent offense. The Tigers will turn to