After a brutal road trip in which they dropped six of seven games, the Tampa Bay Rays are finally back at Tropicana Field, where they began the season winning five of seven. They’ll welcome the Detroit Tigers into town, who currently sit atop of the AL Central division with a record of 8-4.

Heading into play tonight, the Tigers have won their past six games against the Rays as well as nine of their past 11 matchups.

Starting Pitchers

Matt Andriese vs Michael Fulmer

Andriese rebounded from a poor start to the season with a solid appearance during his lasting outing. He took on the Yankees in New York and allowed a lone run that came on homer, with the Yankees totaling five hits. Andriese also walked three and struck out five over six innings of work.

Michael Fulmer Scouting Report

The reigning American League Rookie of the Year winner has had an excellent start to his sophomore season as he has delivered two quality starts. His last time out came on the 12th against the Twins where he allowed three runs on fours hits, including a homer. He also walked one and struck out seven over six innings pitched.

His Arsenal

Thus far in 2017, Fulmer has used four pitches all in the high 80’s to low 90’s. He’ll primarily throw his fastball, using it about half of the time, and mixes his in the rest of his repertoire the rest of the time.

His 2016 Splits

A reverse splits pitcher last year as he performed better against left-handed hitters. However, that may be the byproduct of a lower BABIP against them, he induces much more contact to them as opposed to righties.

Meanwhile, Fulmer can be dominant his first two times through the order but things fall apart once he reaches the leadoff batter for a third time, as is the case for most pitchers.