Well, the Tigers started 2023 in a similar fashion as they saw last season. Detroit beginning a new era under Scott Harris, have a long way to go to make this organization a real contender again. Seeing record lows in top-end prospects, a roster built up around pieces here because of Al Avila and down two key arms. The Tigers began their season facing a rising star lefty in Shane McClanahan and were in store for a lazy day offensively. Here is how Opening Day wrapped up.
Recap
The Rays ace settled in nicely, and it was clear early on that the Tigers would be in for a long day. With aces on the mound, runs always seem to come at a premium, which was no different today. Javy Baez started his season nicely with an opening-inning single, followed by a walk his next at-bat. The scoring wouldn't begin until the third inning and start with a bang. Jose Siri would hit a solo home run to score 1-0 Tampa Bay. That would be the only scoring McClanahan would need to propel the Rays on the mound. Rodriguez, for the Tigers, would take the mound. He would do an overall good job and start nicely in the early innings. After giving up the run in the third retired eight straight batters. His day would come to an end in the sixth after allowing two runners and one out. Jason Foley would come out of the pen for Detroit. An Arozarena single would extend the Rays lead and would tag on one more to make the score 3-0 Rays after six innings. McClanahan would be done after six masterful innings of work. The Tigers offense just was not able to string together much of consistent swings as their only hope was scooped away on a diving catch to end the seventh inning. A frustrating day for the offense ended in a shutout. The wonderful Wander Franco would drive home his own solo shot in the eighth the seal the 4-0 Rays victory.
Pitching
Rodriguez and McClanahan would begin the days for their clubs. It was clear who ended with the upper hand, but the numbers were not bad. For the Rays Shane had a line of 6 IP 4 H 1 BB and 6 Ks to start his season. Rodriguez would last 5 1/3 IP only giving up three hits, followed by 3 ER after the scoring and 5 K's. There will always be room to improve but there is a solid foundation for E-Rod who looked consistent at most times. Foley, Shreve and Englert would allow just one earned run cleaning up for Rodriguez. Poche, Adam and Fairbanks would seal the deal for the Rays going for 3 IP 2 H 2 BB 0 ER.
Hitting
The bats not overall exciting most of the day combining for just 12 hits, six a team. The reason Tampa Bay won was because they hat a clump of hits and two home runs. Wander Franco would be the lone Rays players with multiple hits, one being a solo home run in the eighth. The Rays had a clump of hits in the fifth with two RBI singles. Siri as stated in the recap started the scoring with a solo home run in the third. For the Tigers it was a quiet day and much of the same from last season. Schoop seems to have a real tough time out there lately and today continued. Haase and Torkelson began the season both 0-4 out of the 4 & 5 spots in the lineup. The one positive sign was Austin Meadows who seems to have a bounce back season after an injury ridden 2022 season. Austin went 3 for 4 today with a double and seemed really comfortable at the dish. Baez didn't look like a fool swinging at the dirt today collecting a single and a walk. All in all, not anything to flash about but this could be rough for Detroit.
Closing
The Tigers begin their season 0-1 and look to bounce back Saturday. The game was played in just about two hours and 15 minutes with the Pitch clock and didn't seem to throw too much off. This will be a work in progress, but the hope is that it looks better than last for Detroit. The Rays will look to continue winning how they do with a smaller market in whole sport. Having an ace like McClanahan helps.