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LAKELAND, Fla. — It's an annual tradition that pits the Detroit Tigers against Florida Southern College the day before the first Grapefruit League game of spring training. Monday the Tigers won 12-2, with the Tigers putting up multiple runs in two innings in preparation of Tuesday's home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
Right-handed pitcher Tim Melville started for the Tigers and he turned in two innings of 1-2-3 work, striking out three in the process. His relief, Kyle Ryan, allowed the Moccasins to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, but that's all FSC would get. Ryan was credited with the win.
Omar Duran struggled to find the strike zone in his one inning of work, walking two, but he did not allow a run. Buck Farmer and Angel Nesbitt both struck out two batters in an inning of work apiece, while Jose Valdez struck out the side.
The Tigers offense went down quietly for the first three innings, putting up just an RBI single by Andrew Romine in the third inning until they bat around in the fourth. Detroit scored six runs on five hits, with James McCann hitting a bullet down the left field line that just stayed fair for an RBI double.
Detroit then scored a run each in the fifth and sixth innings, before adding a three-spot in the seventh to give the Tigers a 12-2 lead. Andrew Romine, Wynton Bernard, and Manny Pina each hit two RBI en-route to the blowout win.
McCann, Hernan Perez, and Wynton Bernard each doubled, Nick Castellanos was the lone batter to ground into a double play, and Xavier Avery and Jefry Marte (who also made a nice defensive play at third) both stole a base. Neither team hit a home run in the game.
Jose Iglesias will not play on Tuesday but he will play on Wednesday when the team travels to Sarasota to face the Orioles. Anthony Gose did not play in today's game as he's playing in both Tuesday and Wednesday's game.
Romine is scheduled to start in left field on Wednesday and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus mentioned he could stay there for several innings, though there's a risk of not seeing a ball for some time.