Tigers, Diamondbacks struggling entering 2-game set (May 09, 2017)
PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks are coming off their most difficult stretch of the season while the Detroit Tigers had the rug pulled out from under closer Francisco Rodriguez in their last two games.
So it is probably a good thing both teams had Monday off before beginning a two-game interleague series at Chase Field on Tuesday night.
Arizona has lost six of its last nine games against division leaders, dropping four or six in home-and-home series against National League West leader Colorado around a series in Washington is which it won one of three.
Detroit suffered walk-off losses in Oakland on Saturday and Sunday when Rodriguez could not hold a pair of one-run leads, causing manager Brad Ausmus to say the Tigers will have a "discussion" regarding the closer situation moving forward.
Rodriguez is 1-4 with seven saves, four blown saves and an 8.49 ERA in 13 appearances this season.
"It's something he's done for decades so I think it's pretty obvious it's not the same Frankie," said Ausmus of Rodriguez, who has 437 career saves and is in his second season with Detroit.
"We're going to have to have a discussion. He certainly has earned a degree of respect with his performance over the years, including what he did for us last year. It's not as simple as people like to think it is."
The Tigers (15-15) are scheduled to start right-hander Justin Verlander and left-hander Matt Boyd in the series. The Diamondbacks (18-15) are to start left-hander Robbie Ray and right-hander Zack Godley, who is making his second spot start as Arizona attempts to replace Shelby Miller in the rotation. Miller is to undergo Tommy John surgery this week.
While the Tigers explore bullpen options, the Diamondbacks' relief corps has pitched well recently, giving up five earned runs in its last 25 1-3 innings after a hiccup by closer Fernando Rodney in the most recent homestand, when he allowed eight runs while failing to hold leads in consecutive appearances.
Verlander, 2-2 with a 4.21 ERA, has a 1.84 ERA in two career starts against the Diamondbacks. He is 1-0 at Chase Field, beating Arizona in 2014 while allowing three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. He threw eight scoreless innings against Arizona in 2011.
Ray, 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA, will make his first appearance against the Tigers, for whom he made his major league debut at 22 in 2014 after being obtained in a trade with Washington. Ray made nine appearances (six starts) for the Tigers that season before being acquired by Arizona in a three-team trade that sent Didi Grigorius to the Yankees and Shane Greene from New York to Detroit.
Ray is a member of an Arizona rotation that ranks fourth in the NL with a 3.69 ERA. The team ERA of 3.87 also ranks fourth in the league, numbers made even more impressive by the fact that the Diamondbacks have played 17 of their 33 games at Chase Field, among the most hitter-friendly parks in the majors.
"In what people categorized as a very offensive environment, our starting pitchers have been studs," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo.
The Diamondbacks have beefed up their advanced scouting reports by using information supplied by Dan Haren, who won 153 games in 13 seasons.
"We try to understand what we are going up against every day, and if you have a good feel for that, you are going to enhance your ability to perform at a peak level," Lovullo said.
