Detroit Tigers (75-71) vs. Colorado Rockies (54-92)
When: 1:10 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit. (Have Xfinity but looking for a cheaper way to watch BSD? Here are some other options.)
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers HP Tarik Skubal (16-4, 2.53 ERA) vs. Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-10, 4.96).
First-pitch weather: Sunny and low to mid 80s.
• Box score
Tigers lineup: TBA.
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Game notes: The Tigers remained three games behind the Minnesota Twins in the hunt for the final American League wild-card playoff berth, as both teams won on Wednesday night. The Twins are off Thursday, however, after taking two of three from the Angels, giving the Tigers the chance to grab half a game in the standings — with their ace on the mound.
Skubal will be looking to push the Tigers to their first sweep of the Rockies at Comerica Park since 2014. (To be fair, the Rox have made just one visit between then and now: a 2-1 series victory in 2022 most notable for their lone loss — the April 23, 2022, doubleheader opener that featured Miguel Cabrera’s 3,000th career hit.)
The Rockies entered Tuesday with 1,434 strikeouts in 145 games, an average of 9.89 whiffs per game. They’ll face the AL’s strikeout leader in Skubal, who is averaging 7.43 strikeouts per start and 10.76 strikeouts per nine innings (second in the AL). We’re not ones to advocate betting on strikeout totals, but if you are … take the over.
Feltner, the Rockies’ starter, meanwhile, is an alumnus of That School Down South (aka Ohio State, for those uninterested in the eternal Michigan/Ohio rivalry) and in the midst of this fourth season in the majors. He throws five pitches — a four-seam fastball, a slider, a changeup, a sinker and a curveball — fairly regularly, with the four-seamer, which averages 94.7 mph, getting used the most, at 35.2% of the time.
After today’s matinee finale, the Tigers welcome the AL wild-card leading Baltimore Orioles to Comerica Park for a three-game series beginning Friday night. The Rockies, meanwhile, head home to host the Chicago Cubs for a three-game series beginning Friday as well.
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Live updates
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
