Fort Myers, Florida. The Detroit Tigers defeated the Minnesota Twins 12–3 on Wednesday at Lee Health Sports Complex.
The Tigers are 16-8-3 in the Grapefruit League.
Casey Mize, a right-hander, concluded his start with style.
Mize, who has a 2.35 ERA over 15⅓ innings in five appearances, struck out two batters with fastballs in the fifth inning. Willi Castro, a switch-hitter batting from the left side, struck out swinging on an up-and-away fastball at 96.6 mph, while Manuel Margot struck out looking on a down-and-away 97.7 mph fastball.
Mize walked one batter and got two outs before being replaced by right-handed reliever Alex Faedo, who finished the fifth inning. Faedo, who is competing for one of the remaining bullpen berths, also pitched the sixth inning.
Faedo retired all four hitters that he faced.
“It’s going to come down to the wire with these guys,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Faedo and the bullpen battle. “Given how well everyone is presenting and how quickly things might change, we’ll make a judgement at the last minute. But he’s definitely in the mix.”
“It’s going to come down to the wire with these guys,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Faedo and the bullpen battle. “Given how well everyone is presenting and how quickly things might change, we’ll make a judgement at the last minute. But he’s definitely in the mix.”
The Tigers scored one run in the first inning, four in the second inning, three in the fourth, one in the sixth, and three in the ninth. Twins right-hander Louie Varland gave up eight of those runs on nine hits and three walks in four innings, with no strikeouts.
Kerry Carpenter’s RBI single put the Tigers up 1-0.
