The Detroit Tigers enjoyed a day off Thursday after a 5-1 homestand catapulted them to the top of the American League Central.

Now the work resumes.

The Tigers will look to stay hot when they open a three-game series against the rival Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Minneapolis. It marks the start of a six-game road trip for Detroit, which also will visit the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game interleague set.

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch praised his team for playing well despite missing several key players because of injuries, including second baseman Gleyber Torres, right-hander Alex Cobb, catcher Jake Rogers and outfielder Manuel Margot.

“Just play the game that’s in front of you,” Hinch said. “We can’t do anything more than that with anybody who is not here. I think our team embraces that … and there’s also the reality that this is how it is.

“Our toughness, our resilience, our fight, our character, all of that stuff is guaranteed. We are who we are, and our players respond.”

Minnesota is hoping to respond after a disappointing road series in which it dropped three of four games against the Kansas City Royals. The Twins lost 3-2 in the series finale Thursday afternoon before flying home.

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said he and his teammates needed to stay confident and find a way to come through in decisive moments.

“Those situational, tight-pitched games, you have to scratch off a run here,” Jeffers said. “And we’re putting up a big zero. …

“I keep saying this the whole season so far: The ball has been falling the other way. We have to do a better job of earning those.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli echoed Jeffers’ sentiments, particularly when it came to hitting better with runners on base.

“We have to force the issue,” Baldelli said. “We have to put a few more runs on the board.”

Tigers right-hander Reese Olson (1-1, 5.06 ERA) will try to keep Minnesota batters off balance on Friday in his third start of 2025. Olson gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings in his season debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers, then bounced back to limit the Chicago White Sox to two runs in six innings to win his second start on Saturday.

Olson has started against the Twins four times, going 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA. He allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 19 hits in 19 innings during those outings, with seven walks and 24 strikeouts.

Twins right-hander David Festa is expected to make his season debut. The 25-year-old Seton Hall alum went 2-6 with a 4.90 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for Minnesota in 2024.

In his lone start against the Tigers, last July 3, Festa gave up seven runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out six in a 9-2 home loss.

Festa was on track to start for Triple-A Saint Paul on Friday, but he will take the mound a few miles west instead. His promotion will allow Twins starters Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson to get an extra day of rest, and it will help a rotation that lost ace right-hander Pablo Lopez to a hamstring injury this week.

“We have a lot of games in a row right now,” Baldelli said. “… It’s a forward-looking, get-ahead-of-things move for our starting pitchers.”

–Field Level Media