Tigers DH rained out; club to play 2 on Saturday

DETROIT -- The long Tigers season won’t be quite as long as originally planned. Friday’s scheduled doubleheader against the White Sox was rained out in the fourth inning of Game 1, wiping out a 4-2 Detroit lead.

The two sides will try again for a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 3:40 p.m. ET, then wrap up the season with their originally scheduled finale Sunday at 3:10 p.m. ET. Both teams will finish with 161-game seasons rather than the standard 162. It’ll be the first 161-game season for the Tigers since 2016, when their home finale against Cleveland was washed out.

With heavy rain delaying the first pitch of Game 1 by 52 minutes, the White Sox and Tigers hoped to get at least five innings in for one game to count, then to make up Game 2 on Saturday. The Tigers were anticipating such a scenario when they scratched Tyler Alexander from his scheduled start and turned to Matt Hall for a bullpen start instead. But 91 minutes in, they were still nine outs shy of an official game when a steady rain turned into a downpour, forcing umpires to call for the tarp.

Just over an hour later, with storms in the forecast all evening, the game was called. None of the stats from Friday’s game will count, including Dawel Lugo’s two-run double in the third inning and Grayson Greiner’s fourth-inning solo homer.

Like Friday, Saturday’s doubleheader will be traditional, with roughly a half-hour break between games. Matthew Boyd (9-11) will make his final start of the season in Game 1, followed by Alexander (1-4) in Game 2.