Can Penny Rebound?
It’s been a long spring in Detroit, but the Tigers may finally be coming around.
The Tigers go for their longest winning streak of the season Saturday when they continue their three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Detroit -119 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 59% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles +109 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Detroit (30-37) expected to contend again this season after finishing second in the AL Central in each of Jim Leyland’s first two seasons as manager, including a wild-card berth and World Series appearance in 2006. The Tigers, though, opened 2008 with seven consecutive losses and have spent the last two months struggling to crawl out of that hole.
With a 6-2 record on their current homestand, they may finally be making some progress. After sweeping three games from the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, Detroit opened this series with a 5-0 victory over the Dodgers (31-36). Armando Galarraga limited Los Angeles to three hits over seven innings before Freddy Dolsi retired the final six batters for his second save in as many chances.
Strong pitching has fueled the hot streak for the Tigers, who are looking to win five in a row for the first time since Sept. 11-16. Detroit has given up a total of two runs in its last three wins, and six runs total during the four-game run.
"The guys have been pitching great and we’ve been adding a little offense to it," said Detroit left fielder Marcus Thames, who hit his second homer in three games Friday.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, are batting .138 (13-for-94) and have scored only one run during a three-game skid. They have dropped 22 of their last 34 games since a 19-14 start to manager Joe Torre’s first season in Los Angeles.
"We have to get better at-bats," Torre said. "We need to get our confidence back before we can start winning again."
Detroit will send minor-league call-up Eddie Bonine to the mound to try and keep the Dodgers’ bats cold. The 27-year-old right-hander takes the place of struggling Dontrelle Willis in the Tigers’ rotation, and will make his major-league debut after posting a 9-2 record and 4.48 ERA at Triple-A Toledo this season.
"If you don’t give a guy like that a chance, then who do you give a chance to?" Leyland told the Tigers’ official Web site of Bonine, who also went 15-5 in the minors in 2007. "So we’re going to give him a chance."
Dodgers starter Brad Penny (5-8, 5.38) gets another chance to end his losing streak. The two-time All-Star was 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA through his first seven starts, but is 0-6 with a 7.71 ERA and a .329 opponent batting average in seven outings since.
The losing hasn’t been entirely Penny’s fault, as the Dodgers have scored a total of seven runs for him in his last six losses.
The right-hander gave up three runs over six innings against the Chicago Cubs last Sunday, but got charged with a 3-1 defeat. He lost his only career start against the Tigers, 6-2 at Detroit on June 12, 2004, after yielding four runs – two earned – over seven innings for the Florida Marlins.
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