The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles are playing on the MLB schedule on Wednesday afternoon and the matchup of first place teams starts up at 12:35 pm ET and comes from Oriole Park at Camden Yards and streaming from the MLB.com website live and the pitching matchup has Justin Verlander on the mound against Kevin Gausman for the O's.
The Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball this season and they are leading the AL Central and have one of the best records in baseball with 23 wins already. The team has Verlander going and he is looking to keep things going after starting 4-2 with a 2.67 ERA and he has been beat up a bit against the Orioles at home, but on the road he has been money, winning six of his seven starts and putting up an ERA of 2.29 and that gives the Tigers an advantage and it helps that Miguel Cabrera is heating up after a slow start to the season.
Cabrera has been playing very well this month and he plays even better at Camden Yards, where he has seven home runs over the past 13 games, which is how long his hit streak at the stadium is as well. Cabrera always gives the team a chance and if he can play well, the Tigers should be able to dominate with Verlander on the mound since Cabrera is hitting just .420 in that span of 13 games. The Tigers are looking to go on a roll after winning against the Orioles and that game saw Joe Nathan get his ninth save of the season and he has been pitching well also.
The Tigers have solidified their offense with Cabrera heating up, as they are now in the top 10 across the board in the major categories, ranking second in batting average, fourth in slugging and ninth in runs while they are seventh in on base percentage and that has fueled this play of late. The pitching has been just as good and once again the Tigers look like they are one of the best in the AL, as they are in the top 10 also in all major ranks, with the team fifth in BAA, fourth in WHIP and sixth in ERA while they are seventh in quality starts.
The team starts a series with another good team in the Boston Red Sox next and that game has a great pitching matchup as well, with Jon Lester facing off against Max Scherzer and that will be on Friday night at Fenway Park. The Orioles will start a series against the Royals next on the schedule and that will be on the road as well after the Tigers series ends. The Orioles pulled ahead of the Yankees in the division standings and NY has been terrible lately and they have done it while their offense has been mediocre, ranking 24th in runs scored, although the team is fourth in batting average in the early goings this season.
Check here for the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles live coverage from the MLB.