Dodgers host Tigers in Los Angeles for the first time in 8 years

The Dodgers first home interleague series of the season starts Friday night at Dodger Stadium, with the Tigers making their first visit to Los Angeles since 2014.

These two teams haven’t played at all since 2017, when the Dodgers took two of three games at Comerica Park in a series that saw Curtis Granderson make his Dodgers debut. The Dodgers lead the all-time series with the Tigers, which dates back to 2003, twelve games to ten, including 7-4 in Los Angeles.

Friday’s series opener features a first. There have only been three major leaguers named Tyler with a last name that starts with A. Two of them are pitchers, with the Dodgers’ Tyler Anderson and the Tigers’ Tyler Alexander scheduled to start on the mound. The other Tyler A., Tyler Austin, is a first baseman and outfielder who has not yet faced either Tyler A. pitcher.

Both Alexander and Anderson are left-handed pitchers, and both have the same middle name, John. Both pitchers have walked three batters and allowed one home run through three games this year, in 12⅔ innings for Anderson and 10 innings for Alexander.

The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler starting the final two games of the series. Detroit is going on Saturday with right-hander Beau Brieske, who made his major league debut last Saturday, and on Sunday the Tigers will start Eduardo Rodriguez, whose last game at Dodger Stadium saw him throw his glove down after allowing a World Series home run to Yasiel Puig (though it still worked out well for Rodriguez’s team later that evening).

Miguel Cabrera got his 3,000th hit on Saturday in Detroit, just the seventh player in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Through Wednesday night, Cabrera has 3,003 career hits. He also has 599 doubles, just one shy of becoming the 18th player with 600 doubles.

Detroit plays one more game in Minnesota on Thursday afternoon before heading to Los Angeles, while the Dodgers are off.

Cabrera is his career at Dodger Stadium has eight home runs and 17 RBI in 20 games, hitting .271/.342/.671.

This weekend is the final three games with 28-man rosters, before reducing active rosters to 26 players on Monday, with a limit of 14 pitchers through May 29, and 13 pitchers thereafter. Beginning Thursday (today), the Dodgers have three off days in eight days so they can pretty much use their bullpen with no restrictions this weekend.