Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire wants his team to play and pitch a little quicker in the finale of a three-game series with Tampa Bay.
The Tigers were shut out on Wednesday 4-0 after winning the series opener the previous night 9-6. Detroit pitchers issued eight walks and the fielders made three errors in the middle game of the series. They’ll play the rubber match on Thursday afternoon.
“The pace of the game was definitely slow,” Gardenhire said. “We’re standing out there a lot playing defense and it’s ball one, ball two. You walk too many people and make errors. That’s what ends up happening. When you’re out there playing long innings on defense, you get a little complacent. You get a little tired on your legs and then you end up with mental mistakes and that leads to physical mistakes.”
Detroit has lost three of its last four overall and 11 of 12 at home, but Gardenhire sees an opportunity on Thursday.
“As I told the guys in the clubhouse, we have a chance to win a series tomorrow,” Gardenhire said. “So we have to get up in the morning, come ready to play and try to win a series. That’s the goal, to win two out of three here.”
Left-hander Daniel Norris (2-4, 4.58 ERA) will start for the Tigers. He has three losses and a no-decision in his last four outings. On Saturday, Norris was charged with six runs (five earned) on six hits in 5 1/3 innings at Atlanta.
The long ball has been an issue for Norris. He’s allowed six homers during that four-game span, including a two-run shot to Braves rookie Austin Riley on the last he pitch he threw in Atlanta.
“It comes down to execution, more than anything,” Norris told the Detroit News afterward. “My stuff was good the third time through the order. If anything, maybe I was just a little tired. It was a hot day and I was running the bases, which you’re not used to. But it’s on me. I need to finish. If I keep that ball in the yard and get those last two outs, we’re having a different conversation right now.”
Norris has made four career starts against the Rays, going 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA.
The Rays are expected to get one of their best players, Tommy Pham, back in the lineup on Thursday. Pham has missed the last five games with a calf strain. He’s batting .300 with eight homers and 25 RBIs.
Shortstop Willy Adames carries a seven-game hitting streak into the game. He had a grand slam in the series opener on Tuesday and reached base twice on Wednesday.
Adames has raised his season average to .253. He started off in the Tigers’ system but was traded in 2014 to the Rays in a three-team deal that brought former Tampa Bay ace David Price to Detroit. He reached the majors last season and batted .278 in 85 games.
“Could be the best thing that happened to me in my career, that they traded me to Tampa Bay,” Adames said in a Fox Sports Detroit interview. “That’s where everybody got to know me. That was a good thing for me that they traded me. Just happy the Rays gave me the opportunity to play every day.”
Manager Kevin Cash will use a committee approach with his pitching staff on Thursday, with reliever Ryne Stanek (0-1, 2.78 ERA) listed as the opener. Stanek has no decisions and a 3.86 ERA in two appearances against the Tigers, one of them as an opener, and both of them coming last season.