The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles will look to get their seasons untracked when they meet Friday night in Baltimore.

It’s the beginning of a 10-game homestand for the Orioles, who just finished a 1-5 road trip.

“We’ve shown that we can play with anyone,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “We just have to allow ourselves to play with anyone. Whether it be on the pitching side, defensively, offensively. We just have to get everything clicking at once.”

The Orioles were swept in three games vs. Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday through Wednesday. They failed to protect a two-run lead in the eighth inning of their most recent game, a 5-3 setback to the Rays.

Albernaz called that situation “a big-time gut punch.”

Detroit, meanwhile, is in the midst of a six-game losing streak and has gone seven games in a row without scoring more than three runs.

The Tigers are coming off a 1-6 homestand that included two defeats in 10-inning games. They fell 3-1 to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon.

“We’re wearing it,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said.

The Tigers are 11 games below .500 for the first time since 2023. Detroit players insist they’re united despite the on-field woes.

“We all got to stick together, you know,” Casey Mize said. “And we are, in my opinion.”

But it’s not necessarily a happy clubhouse.

“We’re just frustrated. We’re trying. We’re doing everything we can,” outfielder Matt Vierling told The Detroit News. “We expected to be better than this, and we’re just overall frustrated. All we can do is show up tomorrow and try to win a ballgame.”

Baltimore has been held to three or fewer runs in 10 of its last 13 games. Albernaz said the Orioles have looked passive on the base paths at times.

“That’s when we lose some opportunities out there,” he said. “(We need to be) aggressive on the bases. When we’re pushing the envelope on the bases, that’s when good things happen for us.”

Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso has begun to show a power stroke, raising his home run total to nine. Five homers have been opposite-field shots.

Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday played third base for the first time in the major leagues for one inning Wednesday. But he could bounce around the infield based on his workload in the minor leagues while on injury rehabilitation assignments.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-3, 5.44 ERA) will head to the mound on Friday for Baltimore, coming off a five-inning stint in which he gave up four runs and took the loss Saturday at Washington in a 13-3 outcome. He has won in his last two starts at home.

Bassitt is 4-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 career starts vs. the Tigers.

Detroit right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-5, 5.77 ERA), who’ll start the series opener, has lost three consecutive starts, including Sunday vs. Toronto when he allowed four runs in six innings in a 4-1 setback. Flaherty has averaged more than one strikeout per inning this season (48 in 43 2/3 innings).

Flaherty, who pitched part of the 2023 season for the Orioles, has faced Baltimore only once. He lost in that 2024 game, giving up three runs in six innings.

–Field Level Media

The Indiana Fever did just fine in their first game without Caitlin Clark this season.

And they’re likely to have their All-Star back on the floor when they face the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night in Indianapolis.

Clark, who played in just 13 games last season because of multiple injuries, was a late scratch because of back soreness before Indiana’s 90-73 home victory against the Portland Fire on Wednesday. She’s listed as probable for Friday.

In Clark’s absence, Aliyah Boston returned from a one-game absence (lower-leg injury) to lead the Fever (3-2) with 24 points and eight rebounds.

“She takes control of the offense when we need her to,” coach Stephanie White said of Boston.

Clark’s return would lessen the burden on Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, who had 21 points against Portland. The victory gave the Fever consecutive wins for the first time in the young season, and they’ll try to win their third straight home game Friday.

“We’re really stating to build continuity on both ends of the floor,” White said. “It doesn’t happen overnight. I think we’re progressing, and I’m pleased with our progression.”

Golden State (3-1), meanwhile, had eight days to recover from its first loss of the season May 13 and bounced back strong in an 87-70 victory against the Liberty on Thursday night in New York.

“We were aware that eight days (off) is a privilege to get,” said Veronica Burton, who had 13 points and a team-high seven assists on Thursday. “Sometimes it can also be a little bit difficult to start off with a lot of intensity and energy.”

Golden State, which lost at home to Chicago 69-63 on May 13, started well against the short-handed Liberty, leading 25-15 after one quarter and remaining in command throughout. The Valkyries finished with 13 3-pointers in 35 attempts, compared with New York’s 6 in 24 attempts.

Now the Valkyries will go from a week-long break in between games to finishing a back-to-back set.

“Being on the road and having a back-to-back, you can kind of get into a self-pity mode,” Burton said, “but we embrace the opportunities to come out here and compete.”

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki has a simple solution for his team’s offensive struggles, which have contributed to an ugly 6-24 stretch.

“We just need to find ways to score runs. That’s all,” Suzuki said after the Angels managed just five hits in a 3-2 loss in 10 innings to the Athletics on Thursday night.

It was the third straight defeat and ninth in 10 games for Los Angeles, which will start a three-game series with the Texas Rangers on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels are averaging 2.9 runs and batting .217 over their last 30 games.

Suzuki said his team, which possesses the worst record in the majors (17-34), continues to exhibit a good attitude despite the struggles.

“They believe,” he said. “Every inning you have (Mike) Trout, you got all the guys, they’re all up there rooting guys on and believing we’re going to put up runs, and really, we’re just not. It’s not lack of effort, it’s not for lack of anything like that. We just need to find ways to score runs. That’s all.”

The season doesn’t figure to get any easier in Friday’s series opener.

Jacob deGrom (3-3, 3.02 ERA), a two-time Cy Young Award winner, will take the mound for Texas and will oppose fellow right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (0-1, 17.18).

Rodriguez, obtained in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason for outfielder Taylor Ward, made his first start since July 31, 2024, on Sunday in a 10-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed seven runs on seven hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out four and threw 79 pitches, touching 99 mph with his fastball.

Rodriguez missed the second half of the 2024 season with a lat injury and then all of 2025 with lat, shoulder and elbow injuries. He underwent surgery in August to remove bone chips from his right elbow and began this season on the injured list with right shoulder soreness.

“With rehab and stuff, there were a lot of dark days, so today was special for me just to be able to take the mound on a big-league field,” Rodriguez said.

Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages each had two-run singles to highlight a five-run fourth inning that chased Rodriguez.

“I thought I threw some really good pitches,” Rodriguez said. “That’s a really good lineup, but in big spots with runners on base, off-speed pitches were left up, (and) they were able to put the bat on the ball and score some runs.”

Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in three career starts against Texas.

Meanwhile, deGrom is 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA in five career starts against the Angels, including 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA in three starts last season.

He is coming off a 4-1 loss at Houston last Saturday. He allowed just five hits in six innings, but four of them were home runs by Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker and Zach Cole. It marked just the second time in his career that deGrom gave up four homers in a game. The first time came with the New York Mets on July 7, 2015, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I actually thought he pitched pretty good,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Solo home runs shouldn’t beat us.”

Said deGrom: “I was fighting myself to throw the ball where I wanted to and wasn’t able to make an in-game adjustment. It wasn’t good.”

–Field Level Media