Detroit 5, Atlanta 1: Jacob Turner struggles, but Tigers top Braves

The Tigers won again Wednesday, a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves as the teams met for a third time already this year. Detroit won all three meetings as well as all five games against major league teams.

Right-handed pitching prospect Jacob Turner, on the other hand, may not have been left with such a good feeling. He helped the Braves to load the bases in both the first and second inning, allowing a combined four walks. He escaped his own trouble in the first, but left the bases full for Luis Marte in the second when Turner's day ended unexpectedly early. Turner also allowed two hits and had no strikeouts.

What does that really mean for Turner? I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a make or break moment. It's just a data point -- one of many -- the organization will use when making a decision about who should be the team's fifth starter. But certainly, if you're Turner, you'd feel much better about making a positive statement your first game out.

Turner told MLive's Chris Iott:

"I didn't make the adjustment," Turner said. "That's what you need to do out there when you don't have your stuff. You need to make the adjustment on the fly, and I couldn't do it."

... Hopefully, I'll learn from it and get better next time I go out.

My gut still thinks Turner needs to start the year in the minors and keep working on stuff. He's going to be a really good pitcher. There's no reason the Tigers should rush that if it's clear there's still work he needs to do. But we'll see how he looks as camp continues.

The other fifth-starter candidate to take the mound was Andy Oliver. He threw three scoreless, hitless innings. He also walked three, showing the iffy control exhibited in the past. I feel like he's going to be a reliever in the major leagues, but in the meantime the more innings he gets on the mound as a starter, the better.

In other news, Miguel Cabrera got a hit, finally. It went really far, apparently. (See video below.)

Well, that's a relief.

Also, I thought Jose Valverde got six strikeouts in one inning, but it appears I have to clean my laptop screen.