The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics are playing on the MLB schedule on Thursday and the game from O.co Coliseum starts up at 3:35 pm ET and is streaming online from MLB.com as the AL division leaders battle it out and the matchup has Rick Porcello on the mound against Jesse Chavez and the A's will be looking to win the series against the Central leaders.
The Tigers come into the game after losing to Oakland in the previous matchup and Scott Kazmir improved to 6-2 in that game and now Detroit is leading the Central division with a 29-20 record on the year. Oakland has been better and they have 32 wins on the season and Detroit is heading to Seattle for the weekend and they have a series with the Mariners that gets started with an ace pitching matchup for the teams, as Justin Verlander will face off against Hisashi Iwakuma for the Mariners.
The Tigers come in as the most consistent team in the league this season and they are ranked in the top 10 across the board in hitting, ranking 10th in runs scored, second in batting average eight in on base percentage and third in slugging and much of that is due to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. The pitching has been up and down and now Verlander takes the mound on Friday and before that it will be Porcello trying to salvage the series with the A's for the Tigers. Josh Donaldson hit a three run home run off of Joe Nathan to get the win and now Detroit comes in at 18th in ERA, 13th in quality starts and 17th in BAA.
The Tigers got a 6-5 win in the first game and now the teams are working on trying to get the series win and Oakland comes in playing very well overall, ranking third in the league in runs scored. The team is 16th in batting average and second in on base percentage and the team is also in the top 10 in slugging, coming in eighth. The pitching has been some of the best in the AL, as the team is first in ERA, WHIP and BAA this year and they are fifth in quality starts and that makes the A's one of the most well rounded teams in baseball.
The A's and Tigers are already looking like playoff teams and they could be the favorites for the ALCS this season and both are leading their divisions and are looking strong heading into June.
Check here for the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics live coverage for the afternoon game.
