Detroit Tigers (8-8) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (9-6) When: 6:40 p.m. tonight. Where: Comerica Park, Detroit. TV: FSD+. Radio: 97.1 FM in Detroit (Tigers radio affiliates). First-pitch weather forecast: Cloudy, 52 degrees (45%-55% chance of rain through the evening). Starting pitchers: Tigers RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-2, 4.80 ERA) vs. Pirates RHP Trevor Williams (1-0, 2.45 ERA). • Box score Tigers lineup: 2B Josh Harrison RF Nicholas Castellanos DH Miguel Cabrera 1B Niko Goodrum LF Christin Stewart 3B Jeimer Candelario SS Ronny Rodriguez C John HIcks CF JaCoby Jones More: Matt Moore's season is done after right knee surgery More:Tigers top prospects' minor league statistics for 2019 Twitter updates Live updates for mobile users.<doc-sep>DETROIT, MI - APRIL 17: Trevor Williams #34 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning at Comerica Park on April 17, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) Detroit Tigers 2 Pittsburgh Pirates 3 The Pittsburgh Pirates swept their two-game series against the Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit Even though the 2019 season is only 16 games old for the Pittsburgh Pirates, there certainly has been plenty of excitement. Minus a 10-0 loss against the Cubs last Monday, the team has found every game coming down to the final half inning. Wednesday night was no exception. So far this season the Pirates have been the Battling Bucs. This team has shown a lot of heart, grit, and fight time and time again. This was the case once again on Wednesday night in their come form behind 3-2 victory over the Tigers. With the win, the team is now 10-6 on the season and capped of a 5-3 road trip by sweeping a two-game series against the Tigers. In the top of the 4th inning the Pirates would draw first blood. With two runners on base and two outs Jung Ho Kang hit a ball 106 miles per hour that Detroit shortstop Ronny Ramirez could not handle. Ramirez was charged with an error as Melky Cabrera came around to score making it 1-0 Pirates. Left fielder Jason Martin then drove a ball deep into left field. However, the strong wind that was blowing it batted the ball down and cost Martin a three-run home run. This was just the beginning of an eventful 4th inning for Martin. In the bottom half of the inning Martin made a poor throw up the first base line that allowed Miguel Cabrera to score. Had Martin’s throw been on the money, Cabrera would have been out easily. Light hitting catcher John Hicks then popped a ball up to left field that Martin misread. He originally went back on the ball, and then broke in but did not get to it in time. A ball that should have been an out dropped for a RBI single, and made the score 2-1 Tigers. The 4th inning defensive shenanigans contributed to starting pitcher Trevor Williams having a 37 pitch inning that proved to cost him an additional inning or two. While the defense did him no favors in the inning, Williams also contributed by issuing a walk and hitting a batter. Williams did not have good control or his best stuff on Wednesday night. However, he did what the good ones do and battled. In 6 innings of work he allowed two runs on six hits, one walk, he hit two batters, and struck out five. With better defense from Martin in the 4th inning, Williams would have wiggled off the hook with a max of one run allowed. Watching Williams battle through his struggles on Wednesday night was a great sign. As he continues to evolve into one of the best starting pitchers in the National League, Williams will begin to battle through starts where he does not have his best stuff with regularity. As a result, the Pirates will continue to win a lot of games that he starts. Returning from the injured list, Kyle Crick replaced Williams in the bottom of the 7th inning. In his first outing since the opening week of the season Crick retired the Tigers in order and recorded a strikeout. Crick’s pitches looked crisp and nasty. Getting Crick back will be a major boost for the Pirate bullpen, and should help to stabilize things for the Bucs. Crick’s job was to keep the score at 2-1 Tigers to give the Pirates an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead. After Crick did his job, the offense (sorta) did theirs. Facing 2018 All-Star Joe Jimenez, the Pirates loaded the bases in the top of the 8th inning. JB Shuck singled, Adam Frazier walked, and Starling Marte was hit with a pitch to load the bases with no one out. Lefty Daniel Stumpf was then summoned to put out the fire, and he nearly did just that. Stumpf would strikeout Colin Moran in an ugly at bat for the Pirate first baseman. Designated hitter Josh Bell then put together a strong, battling at bat that ended with a sacrifice fly to left field that tied the game. Cabrera would then fly out to end the inning. After a slow start to the season Richard Rodriguez has pitched much better in his last eight outings. This rebound continued on Wednesday night when the Pirate righty fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the 8th inning. In his last eight outings Rodriguez has allowed just a pair of solo home runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched. In addition to the two solo shots, he’s allowed a single, issued one walk, and struck out seven batters. Getting Rodriguez back on track, just like getting Crick back from the IL, is a huge boost for the bullpen. Both of these happenings should help to get the Pirate bullpen back on track. It will also make Clint Hurdle‘s job of managing the bullpen easier. After Nick Burdi continued to dominate by firing a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th inning, the Pirates and Tigers went to extra innings tied at 2. This game became the sixth extra innings affair of the season for the Pirates, which is a franchise record for the most extra innings games played through the first 17 games of a season in franchise history. Extra innings would begin with a bang for the Pirates. Frazier doubled to start the 10th inning, Marte singled, Moran singled, and the Bucs led 3-2. The three consecutive hits came after the team collected just three base hits through the game’s first 9 innings of play. While the Pirates could have scored more, Bell hit into a double play to put a damper on things. Regardless, the team was able to hand a 3-2 lead to closer Felipe Vazquez. After allowing a single to start the inning, Felipe would buckle down. He got a ground ball, a fly out, and then he struck out Cabrera to end the game. After closing out the team’s 3-2 victory, Vazquez now has a five saves this season and keeps his ERA at 0.00. This was a feel good win for the Pirates. The Bucs continued to show heart and fight by rallying in the 8th inning to tie the game before winning it in the 10th. They continue to show signs of a team that will never go away and will contend throughout the season. Additionally, the bullpen appears to be getting back on track. In 4 scoreless innings of work the Pirate ‘pen allowed just one base runner. If the bullpen can get back on track to go with this team getting healthy, then the Pirates will be set up for success and a fun summer on the North Shore. After a day off on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates will return home to PNC Park for a three-game weekend series against the San Francisco Giants. Game one of the Easter Weekend series is scheduled for 7:05 on Friday night. Jordan Lyles (0.82 ERA, 3.23 FIP) will start for the Pirates, while the Giants will go with veteran lefty Madison Bumgarner (3.12 ERA, 4.56 FIP).<doc-sep>Matthew Boyd was strong again on Tuesday evening, and the Detroit Tigers mustered a late rally to send their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates to extra innings. Unfortunately, a blast from Starling Marte sealed the game and the Tigers could not strike back, dropping the first game of their home stand in 10 innings, 5-3. Boyd came out dealing, striking out the side swinging in the first inning. He should have been out of the second unscathed, but Miguel Cabrera and the infield mixed up their roles and botched what should have been the third out, allowing the Pirates to plate their first run. Boyd would cruise through the rest of his outing relatively easily, save for a two-run blast from Jung Ho Kang in the fourth. Boyd shut down a potential threat in the fifth, with some help from the Pirates. Pittsburgh put two into scoring position, but called for a sacrifice — Worst Play in Baseball™ — and that was that. Boyd retired the final two hitters of the inning, and finished the night with seven quality innings. His line: six hits and three runs allowed, one walk, and seven strikeouts. The Tigers offense remained anemic for most of the night, though they had their moments. Their first threat was cut down at the plate in the third inning, as Dave Clark sent Gordon Beckham from second on a single. Pablo Reyes uncorked a strike from short left field to just get Beckham before his hand slid in. The Tigers finally got on the board in the fourth — the first earned runs Joe Musgrove allowed in 2019 — after a double, a single, and a passed ball allowed Cabrera to trot home. Christin Stewart doubled home the Tigers’ second run, but they would get no more. Musgrove settled into a groove from there and struck out five in the next four innings. Buck Farmer and Blaine Hardy kept the Pirates off the bases in the eighth and ninth, and kept the Tigers within a run. Christin Stewart led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a line drive double off Keone Kela. Stewart was then lifted for the speedier Dustin Peterson. Jeimer Candelario followed with a line drive into right field, and Peterson scored easily as JB Shuck’s throw home was nowhere close. Just like that, the game was tied. A wild pitch from Kela then moved Candelario into scoring position, but Beckham and Greiner could not advance Candelario, and JaCoby Jones grounded out weakly to end the inning. On to bonus baseball! The good feelings were short-lived. Shane Greene looked like he would get around a lead-off single in the 10th, but Starling Marte hit a first pitch two-run home run into the deepest part of the visiting bullpen. The Tigers went quietly in the bottom of the 10th as Harrison, Catellanos, and Cabrera failed to start any rally. Good tweet of the game Christin Stewart (7) off RHP Keone Kela (4) - 104.6 mph, 25 degrees (343 ft Double) 83.5 mph Curveball#Pirates @ #Tigers (B9) pic.twitter.com/grGwHOKDcW — MLBBarrelAlert (@MLBBarrelAlert) April 17, 2019 Bad tweet of the game Starling Marte (4) off RHP Shane Greene (2) - 108.6 mph, 32 degrees (406 ft Home Run) 79.2 mph Slider#Pirates @ #Tigers (T10) pic.twitter.com/bBFx0PWFoY — MLBBarrelAlert (@MLBBarrelAlert) April 17, 2019<doc-sep>
Wednesday night’s game between the Tigers and the Pirates was a bit of a pitchers duel. Although both starters exited after six innings, their performances and the bullpens that followed allowed this game to remain closely contested throughout in what ultimately became a 3-2 Pittsburgh victory. After a walk and a single in the first inning with two outs, Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull struck out Melky Cabrera to retire the side. The Tigers threatened in the third inning, but failed to cash in on that chance. The Pirates scored the first run of the game in the fourth after Josh Bell walked and Melky Cabrera singled; the run scored on a fielding error by Ronny Rodriguez after a ball was put in play by Jung Ho Kang. The Tigers quickly answered back in the bottom of the inning after loading the bases (via a single by Miguel Cabrera, a walk by Christin Stewart, and then Jeimer Candelario was hit by a pitch). Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera. John Hicks then hit a bloop single to shallow left to score Stewart, putting the Tigers on top 2-1. Turnbull — or Red Bull, as the cool kids call him — came out in the fifth with some mid-90s filth and retired the side in order. Turnbull kept the Pirates off the board in the sixth as well, and gave way to Victor Alcantara in the seventh. He got some help from his defense, as Candelario made an excellent play after the ball bounced just over the third base bag, keeping the Pirates off the basepaths. Pirates starter Trevor Williams also exited after six; Kyle Crick came on in the seventh and retired the Tigers in order with relative ease. Joe Jimenez came in to start the eighth inning... and he had a tough go of it. Jimenez allowed a single and a walk before accidentally hitting Starling Marte in the side of the head with a pitch to load the bases. Luckily, Marte was uninjured and remained in the game. Jimenez did not stay in, though. Daniel Stumpf came in and picked up a huge strikeout against Colin Moran, the first out of inning. An unfortunate slip by Stewart on a fly out allowed the Pirates to tally a run and tie the game before Stumpf closed out the inning. Stewart exited after the slip with what the Tigers have described as a “right medial quad spasm.” Shane Greene came on in a tie game in the ninth inning and struck out two batters to keep the Pirates at bay. In the 10th, Buck Farmer allowed a double and a pair of singles, as the Pirates took a 3-2 lead. The Tigers weren’t able to muster up a threat in the bottom half against flame-throwing closer Felipe Vázquez, and fell in extra innings. Notable Tigers Performances: Spencer Turnbull: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO Shane Greene: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO Tweets of the Game Victor Alcantara, 93 mph of pure sink. pic.twitter.com/r73ewfiz7k — Pitcher List (@PitcherList) April 18, 2019