Detroit Tigers: Game 65 Preview

• Date: June 17, 2009
• Time: 8:15pm
• Teams: Detroit Tigers at St. Louis Cardinals
• Park: Busch Stadium
• Weather: 88 and mostly sunny.  Chance of rain later.
• Starting Pitchers: Edwin Jackson (6-3, 2.24)  Todd Wellemeyer (5-6, 5.50)
• Records: Detroit (34-30)  St. Louis (35-30)
• Last 10 Games: Detroit (5-5)  St. Louis (4-6)

My Two Cents

This 11-game road trip got off to a good start.

The Tigers took three of five against the White Sox. Since then though, the Tigers have lost three of four against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals. Still, if the Tigers can win the next two games, they’ll end the road trip with a winning record. You’ll always take that.

Edwin Jackson is looking to bounce back after his last start (against the White Sox) wasn’t all that great. Todd Wellemeyer had a surprising good year for the Cards last season, but he has come back down to earth in 2009. After posting an ERA of 3.71 in 2008, his ERA has ballooned to 5.50 so far in 2009. Wellemeyer started against the Tigers last season and threw five scoreless innings and allowed only four hits before getting yanked. Prior to that start, he made seven relief appearances of varying success against Detroit.

Brandon Inge and Adam Everett have each homered off of Wellemeyer while Miguel Cabrera is 0-2 with a strikeout. Cardinals slugger, Albert Pujols has three singles in four career at-bats against Edwin Jackson.

The Tigers need a win tonight. The pitching matchup is in their favor, and they have lost three straight games. The Minnesota Twins are gaining ground, and the Tigers can never have enough distance between themselves and the Twins. Hopefully we’ll see the offense start to click a bit tonight.