Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins: What time, TV channel is AL Central exhibition on?
Detroit Tigers (15-8) at Minnesota Twins (8-14), Grapefruit League exhibition
When: 1:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Lee Health Sports Complex, Fort Myers, Florida.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit (via broadcast from Bally Sports North).
Radio: None (Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Casey Mize (2-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Twins RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 0.00).
Tigers lineup: TBA.
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Game notes: Is Casey Mize ready for a return to the Tigers’ rotation, once the season starts? We’ll have a better idea of where he stands in the six-arms-for-five-spots battle after this afternoon’s matchup with the Twins. Mize will be making his final start of the spring in his return from back and elbow surgeries in 2022 and should look to stretch his stamina a bit more.
Mize threw 59 pitches in his previous start on March 14 — nearly as many as the two starts before that combined (63) — and poured in 34 strikes. The results were impressive against the Yankees, as well, with Mize allowing four baserunners — on two hits and two walks — and striking out four over four innings. The 2018 No. 1 overall pick doesn’t need to get stretched out to full-game length, though, as the Tigers will almost certainly be conservative with his pitch count in April, possibly piggybacking him with Reese Olson in his starts.
The other big job up for grabs is at third base, with free-agent signee Gio Urshela the leader in playing time this spring. Matt Vierling, who posted a .717 OPS last season in 134 games around the diamond with the Tigers, will get the start today, as manager A.J. Hinch tries to give Vierling enough reps so he’s ready if Urshela doesn’t find his power once the season starts.
For the Twins, it’s right-hander Louie Varland — who might have something to prove against the Tigers; his start against Detroit on June 18 was his final appearance in the Twins’ rotation, as he gave up six runs on nine hits (two of them home runs, back-to-back jacks by Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter) and two walks over 4⅓ innings before being sent down to Triple-A St. Paul. He returned in September and was electric in relief: 17 strikeouts and one — ONE — walk in 12 innings (over seven appearances) with a 99 mph four-seamer and a devastating cutter. Even with the Twins’ free-agent departures (Kenta Maeda to the Tigers, Sonny Gray to the Reds), the St. Paul, Minnesota, native wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the defending AL Central champs’ rotation until this spring, when injuries to Tyler Mahre and Anthony DeSclafani (out for the season before even throwing a regular-season pitch for the franchise) opened up spots.
After today, the Tigers return to Lakeland for their final televised game of spring training, with the New York Mets hitting the Joker at 1:05 (on Bally Sports Detroit) and Matt Manning on the mound for the Tigers. The Twins, meanwhile, head to West Palm Beach to face the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.
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Live updates
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers game score at Minnesota Twins: Time, TV channel
