David Maxwell/Getty ImagesDetroit Tigers star Victor Martinez will play in one final MLB game on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals before calling it a career after spending the last 17 years in the big leagues Roberto Alomar Jersey , according to MLive Media Group's Evan Woodbery."It's just thanking the Detroit Tigers fans and thanking everybody here," Martinez said, per Woodbery. "After tomorrow, it's going to be it. That will be my last game. This is one way to thank everybody."Detroit's final homestand of the season wraps up on Sunday, with the team finishing the campaign with a six-game road trip. Martinez will not play in any games during the final week, as he wants his final at-bat to come at Comerica Park.Martinez, 39, is playing out the remainder of the four-year http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-dustin-pedroia-jersey , $68 million contract he signed in November 2014.After taking a wait-and-see approach during spring training (h/tESPN.com), he acknowledged to Fox Sports Detroit back in August that this would likely be his final season playing baseball:FOX Sports Detroit FOXSportsDetWe hear from Tigers DH Victor Martinez, who says hes taking it all in now, knowing that his illustrious baseball career has been reduced to about six weeks. XnugHlfRO7This season, Martinez is hitting .249/.296/.353 with nine home runs, 21 doubles and 54 RBI in 131 games.His 2017 season was cut short after he underwent aheart procedurelast September to address an irregular heartbeat.Martinez came up in the Cleveland Indians organization and spent seven-plus seasons of his big-league career with the Tribe. He was ultimately traded to the Boston Red Sox at the 2009 MLB trade deadline, playing a year and a half in Beantown. After signing with Detroit as a free agent following the 2010 season, he has spent the last eight years with the Tigers.Regardless of the uniform he was wearing Babe Ruth Jersey , Martinez has been a force with the bat. The switch-hitter is a career .295/.360/.455 hitter with 246 home runs, 423 doubles and 1,178 RBI. He hit a career-high 32 dingers in 2014 and topped the 100-RBI plateau five times.Martinez is a five-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger recipient. He also received American League MVP votes in six different seasons, finishing second to Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout in 2014.While he has plenty of personal accolades, he was never able to capture a World Series ring. He made five trips to the postseason in his career. BALTIMORE — The Oakland A’s and the Baltimore Orioles enter their three-game series on Tuesday at Camden Yards headed in different directions.Oakland (87-57) has won four in a row, coming off a weekend sweep of Texas at home. The A’s are in good shape for the playoffs, just 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and having, at the least http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-david-ortiz-jersey , locked up a wild-card spot.But Oakland remains just 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the first of the two wild-card spots. So with 18 games left, the A’s still have plenty to play for. The big key for Oakland, as it was in a victory over Texas on Sunday, is the team has been finding help in so many ways.Article continues below ...That’s one reason the A’s have had such a great season so far.“You get these contributions from so many guys,” A’s manager Bob Melvin told the media. “It’s pretty cool when everybody in that clubhouse is contributing to it.”In the A’s 7-3 win over Texas, Stephen Piscotty hit his 23rd homer, and Shawn Kelley, who has been helping the bullpen since the A’s picked him up from Washington Bobby Doerr Jersey , got the win in relief.The Oakland lineup features five players with more than 20 home runs — led by Khris Davis (41 homers, 108 RBIs). The team can hurt an opponent in so many ways.Baltimore, however, is going in a completely different direction.The Orioles held a massive fire sale and got rid of a number of high-priced veterans in July as the first step in a major rebuilding project that leaves many questions unanswered. Baltimore has been fielding a very young and inexperienced lineup in recent days as management is trying to get a look at what they’ve got.It’s a big reason the Orioles have not played well for various stretches since all of the trades while hitting better. But they are coming off Tampa Bay beating them in three straight games in a series this past weekend in Florida.Overall, Baltimore went 1-8 on that road trip and now sits at 41-102, the worst record in the major leagues. The younger players keep making mental and physical mistakes.“We’ll meet Tuesday and go over a lot of game mistakes and see if we can keep from repeating them,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the media after Sunday’s loss in Tampa Bay. “We did a lot of things young players do.”The Orioles will send Alex Cobb (5-15, 4.97 ERA) to the mound against the A’s Mike Fiers (11-6 http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-jimmie-foxx-jersey , 3.36). Cobb has been dealing with a blister issue and hasn’t pitched since Sept. 4.Despite the record, Cobb has been strong for the Orioles since the All-Star break. He has gone 3-1 since Aug. 1 and has pitched much better than earlier in the season. Cobb is 4-3 with a 2.25 career ERA versus Oakland.Fiers starts for the A’s. He is 11-6 with a 3.36 ERA but has pitched well since coming to Oakland in an August trade with the Tigers.Fiers is 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA in six Oakland starts and has given the A’s a needed boost. He has a 2-1 record and a 2.25 career ERA against Baltimore.
