Willis: 25 BB and 39 H in 38 IP
Porcello: 18 BB and 67 H in 50 IP
Gallaraga: 4 BB and 11 H in 10 1/3 IP
That's a combined WHIP of 1.67. Of course, the A's offense has made some middling starting pitching look pretty good, but it hasn't yet made awful pitching look passable. You know with the Tigers that you're not going to get many shutouts; the question is, with Willis, if you can be patient and let him take himself out of the game, and with Porcello, apparently, if you have a bat and your hands and you intend to swing it.
Of course, Sheets has been pretty hittable, and Anderson will not go more than 75-80 pitches on Saturday (if he even makes the start), so there's some questions at the front of the Oakland rotation even as it faces the back end of the Tigers rotation. But I can't think of a better cure for the A's road woes than facing those starters.
Ben Sheets is not turning it around. He may have wriggled his way out of jams on Sunday, but he was eminently hittable. A ridiculous grab by Mark Ellis saved his whole afternoon. He'd thrown 86 pitches through four because he could not find the plate, and the San Francisco offense he "shut down" hasn't managed much all offensively all season. He struggled mightily through six, which does not augur well considering that, best case scenario, Anderson will only go six himself.
Update: Galarraga pitched tonight, which means he probably won't start as scheduled on Sunday. Cruising around the Detroit blogosphere, it appears that Max Scherzer is the likely fill in. He hasn't been called back up from the minors yet (because it involves a difficult roster move) where he was sent on May 15 after going 1-4 in 8 starts and giving up 54 hits and 16 walks in 42 innings, but apparently has nothing left to prove at the minor league level.
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