Detroit Tigers 7, Minnesota Twins 1: Strong pitching, offense lead to opening-series sweep

DETROIT -- It took a 3:36 rain delay, but the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins finally played the series finale. Shane Greene was dominant and efficient against the Twins, going eight strong innings while the Tigers' offense put up plenty of support for him. Detroit won, 7-1, sweeping the Twins out of town and setting a new American League record of 24 1/3 scoreless innings to start a season.

Greene was everything the Tigers were hoping for in his debut with the team. Not only did he keep the Twins guessing, he did it efficiently and without effort. The righthander needed just 85 pitches to get through eight innings of work, 65 of which were strikes. He struck out five in that time, and the one batter he walked only came around to score due to an error by Yoenis Cespedes.

The Tigers offense has done a fine job of backing up the starting rotation. They held a clinic once again and teed off against Twins pitching. J.D. Martinez battled through some awkward swings early in the game, hitting a moonshot to right field for a two-run home run. Anthony Gose finished 3-for-4 and scored three times, and three Tigers batters finished with multiple hits for the day.

ROARS:

Shane Greene: Went eight innings and struck out five, allowing just four hits and a walk that came around to score. The run was unearned due to an error by Yoenis Cespedes. He finished with 85 pitches, 65 of which were for strikes. He did not allow a baserunner past first base until the unearned run in the seventh inning.

J.D. Martinez: Smoked a two-run home run deep into the right field seats in the fourth inning, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead at the time.

Anthony Gose: Finished 3-for-5 Thursday with a double, three runs scored, and a stolen base.

Tigers offense: The Tigers put up runs in the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings. Except J.D. Martinez's two-run bomb, all runs came without a homer and three Tigers finished with multiple hits for the day.

HISSES:

Weather: A 3 hour, 36 minute delay due to rain. Nothing more to be said.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Yoenis Cespedes has now hit safely in 17-of-18 career games against the Twins after his RBI single in the first inning.
• The Tigers held the Twins scoreless for 24 1/3 straight innings, setting a new franchise record for the Minnesota organization, originally set by the Washington Senators in 1914. The scoreless streak held by Tigers' pitching is also tied for third-most all-time, setting a new American League record, the third-longest active streak in MLB history. Including last season, The Twins have gone a grand total of 34 straight innings without scoring a run.
• With Nick Castellanos' triple in the fifth inning, the Tigers have recorded at least one triple in each of the first three games of a season for the sixth time in team history, and the first time since 1984.
• The Tigers have had five walks on Thursday, giving them a total of 12 walks in the last two games.
• The 24-inning scoreless streak is the longest for the Tigers since June 20-23, 1996 when the team also had 24 straight shutout innings.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs