home run streak and Atlanta’s five-game winning streak http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , rallying for three unearned runs in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 5-3 on Thursday night.David Dahl homered in the third and capped the winning rally with a two-out, two-run single off Brad Brach (1-3). The Rockies took advantage of an error by shortstop Danby Swanson leading off the ninth to win for the fifth time in six games.One night after being plunked in the left arm by Miami’s Jose Urena, Acuna was back in the lineup looking to extend his homer streak to six games. Wearing a red protective guard, the 20-year-old slugger received a standing ovation his first time up and lined the second pitch — one more than he saw the previous game — into center field for a single, extending his hitting streak to nine games.That was the highlight of his night. Acuna finished 1 for 4, lining out to right in the eighth in his last chance to become the first player in Braves franchise history to homer in six straight games.Seunghwan Oh (5-3) earned the win and Wade Davis worked a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save.RANGERS 8, ANGELS 6ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jurickson Profar started an especially rare triple play and homered to help Texas rally from an early five-run deficit for a victory over Los Angeles.Rougned Odor singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth after an out call that would have ended the inning was reversed. Nomar Mazara went deep in his return from the disabled list, and Joey Gallo also homered for the Rangers.Texas turned the sixth triple play in franchise history in the fourth. With the bases loaded, David Fletcher hit a low liner toward third base that Profar picked on a short hop. Playing near the bag, Profar stepped on third to force out Eric Young Jr. and then tagged Taylor Ward, who had stumbled off the base into foul territory. Profar then threw to Odor, and the second baseman tagged Kole Calhoun between first and second.It was the majors’ first triple play without retiring the batter since June 3, 1912, when the Brooklyn Dodgers turned the trick against the Cincinnati Reds.NATIONALS 5, CARDINALS 4ST. LOUIS (AP) — Bryce Harper had three hits and drove in three runs, and a beleaguered bullpen held on as Washington snapped a four-game losing streak.The Nationals won for just the third time in their last 10 games and snapped the Cardinals‘ season-high, eight-game winning streak.Tanner Roark (8-12) gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings.A bullpen that had blown two leads to start the losing streak took care of the rest. Justin Miller pitched two scoreless innings and Koda Glover earned the save in the first opportunity since Ryan Madson was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday.Just two of the four runs Luke Weaver (6-11) allowed in his 3 2/3 innings were earned. He gave up seven hits, including two to Roark, who scored both times.METS 24, PHILLIES 4, 1ST GAMEPHILLIES 9, METS 6, 2ND GAMEPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a three-run homer, Scott Kingery had a solo shot and Philadelphia beat New York to split their doubleheader.In the first game, Jose Bautista hit a grand slam and had a career-high seven RBIs as the Mets set a franchise record for runs, prompting the Phillies to use two position players to pitch the final three innings of a 24-4 rout.The Mets kept on hitting in the nightcap with three straight doubles on Zach Eflin’s first four pitches. Michael Conforto’s two-run double made it 2-0.But then Hoskins crushed one high off the foul pole to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the bottom half against Steven Matz (5-10), just activated from the disabled list. Hoskins, who went deep in both ends of the twinbill Greg Holland Jersey , has 11 of his 25 homers since the All-Star break — and three in the last four games.In the opener, Corey Oswalt (2-2) allowed four solo homers in six innings, Amed Rosario hit a leadoff homer and had three RBIs and the Mets took advantage of four errors to score 11 unearned runs.CUBS 1, PIRATES 0PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jon Lester pitched six innings to win for the first time in just over a month and Ian Happ homered as Chicago beat Pittsburgh.Lester (13-5) allowed five hits, struck out eight and had no walks while improving to 3-1 against the Pirates this season. His previous victory came July 15 at San Diego and he had gone 0-3 with a 10.32 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr. and Pedro Strop each pitched one inning to complete the six-hitter. Strop hit David Freese with a pitch with two outs in the ninth but converted his 10th save in 13 opportunities.Happ connected with one out in the fourth inning off Ivan Nova (7-7) for his 13th home run, a drive deep into the right-center seats that was the game’s only extra-base hit. There was a fair share of cheers while Happ rounded the bases as he is from suburban Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania.RAYS 3, YANKEES 1NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie left-hander Adam Kolarek pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning to lift Tampa Bay over New York to win its first series at Yankee Stadium since 2014.Tampa Bay had lost 12 straight series in the Bronx, a record since the ballpark opened in 2009.The Rays‘ bullpen mostly cruised following Blake Snell’s five sharp innings until Sergio Romo allowed consecutive singles to Didi Gregorius and Gleyber Torres in the ninth — Torres’ bloop ended his 0-for-17 skid. Romo walked Neil Walker on four pitches, then was replaced by Kolarek, a side-arming lefty who earned his first career save.Tommy Pham helped the Rays jump on Masahiro Tanaka (9-3) with an RBI double during a two-run first inning, and Snell (14-5) and the bullpen took over from there.TWINS 15, TIGERS 8MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Logan Forsythe had a career-high five hits and Jorge Polanco drove in four runs as Minnesota outslugged Detroit.The teams combined for seven homers, with Polanco’s three-run shot accounting for one of three by the Twins. Miguel Sano and Ehire Adrianza also went deep for Minnesota, which broke the game open with a seven-run sixth inning.Forsythe raised his batting average to .449 (22 for 49) since joining the Twins in a trade that sent Brian Dozier to the Dodgers.Minnesota chased Tigers lefty Francisco Liriano (3-8) in the second. A two-run, opposite-field homer by Sano ended Liriano’s night after he allowed eight runs, four earned.DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 1SAN DIEGO (AP) — Clay Buchholz pitched a five-hitter, David Peralta hit a three-run homer and Arizona beat San Diego in the opener of a four-game series.Buchholz (6-2) allowed a leadoff double to Travis Jankowski but retired the next 13 batters he faced. Hunter Renfroe homered in the eighth inning before Buchholz retired the side in the ninth en route to his 10th career complete game.Buchholz struck out six and did not walk a batter in improving to 3-0 in three career starts at Petco Park. He has won five of his last six starts.Peralta belted a 3-0 pitch from Jacob Nix (1-1) into the left-field seats as part of a five-run first. Alex Avila added a two-run single in the inning.ROYALS 6, BLUE JAYS 2KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lucas Duda homered, Rosell Herrera had three hits and Kansas City beat Toronto after a long rain delay to split their four-game series.Royals relievers Brian Flynn, Kevin McCarthy, Brandon Maurer and Wily Peralta shut down the Blue Jays on three hits over the final five innings. Flynn (3-3) picked up the win with a scoreless inning.Kansas City took the lead with a three-run fourth highlighted by Jorge Bonifacio’s RBI triple.Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio (2-6) failed to make it through five innings for the eighth time in his past 13 starts. He allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. The roster will look different by April 2019, but here’s a dispassionate look at the year to come."The 2018 MLB season is now under wraps, which means it’s time to start looking ahead. FanGraphs has already released their Steamer projections for the 2019 season, giving a dispassionate look at how each MLB team profiles next year. In particular, we’re interested in the Detroit Tigers, and where their major needs are concentrated.Steamer is based in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement (fWAR) http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , which, for our money, is the best and simplest method for projecting the season to come. Whichever method one prefers, this is only a rough pass to begin with, so there’s little need to haggle over the details.Remember that the 2019 roster isn’t a finished product yet by any means. Presumably, the Tigers will sign at least some small number of free agents this offseason. Perhaps a trade will come along that substantially alters the rosters overall forecast, though it doesn’t seem terribly likely at the moment. Players will obviously underwhelm expectations, while others surprise and outperform their projections. Steamer aims to strike a balance between the wide variations one can expect when actual baseball, rather than theoretical baseball, is on the menu again in April. Just as fuel for argument — err, productive, rational and respectful discussion — let’s take a crack at the Tigers roster, knowing that this isn’t anything like a final verdict.Position PlayersThe Tigers have pointedly expressed interest in signing both a shortstop to replace Jose Iglesias, as well as a veteran catcher to take over from James McCann. They could potentially add a veteran on a short-term deal to handle second base, too. Niko Goodrum and Ronny Rodriguez aren’t going to be the Tigers’ starting middle infield, or they are going to have an even rougher season than expected. Nicholas Castellanos could end up traded this winter. But this is the projected outcome as things stand in mid-November.2019 Steamer ProjectionsPlayerPAHRSBwRC+fWARPlayerPAHRSBwRC+fWARThose projections credit the Tigers with 12.7 fWAR over 5,386 plate appearances in 2019. That’s roughly 800-900 fewer PAs than the average team compiles in a season, so there are plenty of at-bats to be allocated to players yet to be determined. Catcher Grayson Greiner, for example, is projected for 30 games and 119 plate appearances. Steamer has him posting an 83 wRC+, with a value of 0.4 fWAR. Prospects like Dawel Lugo, Brandon Dixon and Willi Castro are each projected for 110 or fewer plate appearances of replacement level production. The same is true for veteran shortstop Peter Kozma, who looks like he will once again provide some depth at the Triple-A level.The Tigers’ position players were worth just 8.0 fWAR in 2018. The projection for Miguel Cabrera appears pretty crucial, as his return would provide a semblance of foundation to build a lineup around. The loss of Victor Martinez, who posted -1.7 fWAR in 2018, is addition by subtraction, assuming they can better allocate those plate appearances next season. Either way, Steamer like the Tigers to be worth roughly 13 fWAR, a decent improvement, that would have placed the Tigers 23rd among MLB teams in 2018, rather than the 27th place finish they actually managed.Starting RotationStarting pitcher is another area where the Tigers will almost certainly make a free agent signing. Based on the four current starters and projected contributions from Blaine Hardy http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , Spencer Turnbull, and Matt Hall, there are 146 of 162 starts filled, leaving 16 to be accounted for in free agency or by other internal options. Top prospects with a year of Double-A experience, such as Beau Burrows and Kyle Funkhouser don’t come into the picture here, but they (and others) could potentially play a role later in the season.2019 Steamer Projections-Starting RotationPlayerGSIPERAFIPfWARPlayerGSIPERAFIPfWARCertainly, things aren’t going to work out like this, but don’t get caught up in individual projections. The same process that seems to overestimate the likely contributions of Hardy, Hall, and Turnbull balances those projections with a reputation for conservatism toward expectations for active major leaguers. We’re just trying to get a rough idea of what the 2019 Tigers look like before general manager Al Avila and his staff start making moves. And of course, no projection system can account for the toll injuries take on pitchers most of all. Currently, the rotation looks to be worth 7.2 fWAR next season. They managed 8.8 fWAR in 2018 with the contributions of Mike Fiers and Francisco Liriano. The innings projections for Daniel Norris and Jordan Zimmermann seem particularly optimistic, but if the Tigers can add a solid starting pitcher to the mix, there’s a solid chance they can improve on their overall 2018 value. Still, if all the starters reached those projected innings totals, the Tigers would count themselves pretty lucky.What this does reflect is that the vastly improved depth in the farm system should provide a level of farm support the Tigers have rarely had over the last two decades. That may mitigate the usual injury issues that plague any rotation. If they can find themselves just a league average starter, they should come in somewhere between 8-10 fWAR next season.Overall win projectionRight now, the Tigers look set for 67-68 wins next season. Taking the standard replacement level win production, 47 fWAR, you add 13 positional fWAR, and 7.2 fWAR from the rotation, and we’re at 67.2 wins. This is basically right where most expect. However, it is notable that the Tigers can get there without any signings. Their bullpen was worth 2.1 fWAR in 2018; assuming they can produce that much again, the Tigers are looking at 69-70 wins before they make a move.Viewed from this perspective, it’s not hard to conceive of a handful of veteran signings pushing the Tigers toward a total of 75-80 wins. Of course, the point would then be to trade said players at the trade deadline, undercutting their actual season win total with a fading second half. The Tigers have openings at starting pitcher. They could use a free agent reliever to really solidify the bullpen. They appear to be searching for a catcher, and don’t have a starter set to play both shortstop and second base. Trades could fill or create other openings. But in the end, the 2019 Tigers probably won’t look much different than the 2018 version in terms of their win total.