Cubs-White Sox
Mets-Yankees
Nationals-Orioles
All of those are great geographical rivalries. So on the first weekend of interleague play, we get the Reds-Tigers, A.K.A. “The Sparky Anderson Series.” The Reds travel to Detroit where the Tigers are riding a 7 game winning streak, their longest since 1993! Meanwhile the Reds are struggling, losers of 5 of 6 and are 7-9 in the month of May.
Here are the matchups for the weekend:
Friday: Brandon Claussen (2-4, 4.96 era) vs Jeremy Bonderman (4-2, 3.74 era)
Saturday: Eric Milton (2-1, 6.50 era) vs Mike Maroth (5-2, 2.18 era)
Sunday: Aaron Harang (5-2, 4.19 era) vs Nate Robertson (4-2, 3.50 era)
As for tonight’s matchup, Brandon Claussen’s ERA of 4.96 is inflated thanks to a bad outting vs the Brewers earlier this season. Take that start out of the books, and Claussen’s era would be a nice 3.40 on the year. Jeremy Bonderman is coming off of his best start of the year in which he pitched 8 scoreless innings against the Indians. In that game, Bonderman allowed just 3 hits.
Claussen is, IMO, one of the best kept secrets in town. I think he’s going to be a good one. Love to see us build on yesterday and win the Tiger series. We’ll be in Comerica Sunday.
Besides the Sparky connection, there’s the Reds World Series win over Detroit in the 1940 World Series.