GDT: 7/3/08 - DET (42-42) AT SEA (33-51) - 10:10 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Tigers entered this past series as the one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning six straight series and 15 of 18 games.

Yet they were up against another streaking squad, and the Twins slightly cooled them off, taking two of three.

Detroit, now 4-7 against Minnesota this year, was perhaps a victim of bad timing: The Twins have won 15 of their last 18 games.

"Anytime you lose a series, its always tough," center fielder Curtis Granderson said. "Especially against an interdivision opponent like the Twins."

Detroit grabbed the first game of the series on Monday, a 5-4 comeback win, but dropped the next two contests.

"After that first game, it was looking good," pitcher Casey Fossum said. "But this team is hot, too."

Before Wednesday's finale, manager Jim Leyland had downplayed the significance of taking the game and the series.

"It's not going to be the end of the season whether we win or lose," Leyland said.

The Tigers now enter a four-game set against the last-place Mariners, whom they have beaten in five out of six meetings this year.


Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (4-9, 4.42 ERA)
In his last start, against the Rockies on Saturday, Verlander left after 5 2/3 innings with a pitch count of 118. He allowed two earned runs or fewer for the fourth straight start, earning a no-decision. Verlander made two starts this season against the Mariners in late May, allowing five earned runs on 12 hits in 13 innings. Jose Vidro has hit .563 (6-for-19) with two doubles against Verlander.

SEA: RHP Carlos Silva (4-9, 5.69 ERA)
Precision was the name of the game for Silva in his last start against the Padres on Saturday, as he threw 62 of 87 for strikes. He snapped a career-high nine-game losing streak, winning for the first time since April 17, a span of 12 starts. He pitched ahead in the count and kept the ball down, two things he must do to be successful. He won't strike out a lot of batters -- he fanned two Padres -- and stresses putting the ball in play early in the count. Against the Tigers this season, he has allowed 14 earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings.



Tidbits

Leyland is good friends with new Mariners manager Jim Riggleman. ... Leyland said Carlos Guillen will probably rest on either Friday or Sunday against Seattle. ... The Tigers recorded nine double plays in the three-game series against the Twins and now have 97 on the season -- second in the American League, behind Texas (103). ... Fossum's 4 1/3 innings of relief on Wednesday marked his longest outing since May 23, 2007, against Seattle.

On the Internet

MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FSN-HD

On radio
• 97.1FM/1270AM

Up next

• Fri., July 4: Tigers (LHP Kenny Rogers (6-5, 4.59 ERA)) at Mariners (LHP Erik Bedard (5-4, 3.79 ERA)), 4:10 p.m. ET

• Sat., July 5: Tigers (RHP Armando Galarraga (7-2, 3.40 ERA)) at Mariners (RHP R.A. Dickey (2-4, 4.53 ERA)), 10:10 p.m. ET

• Sun., July 6: Tigers (Nate Robertson, 6-7, 5.56) at Mariners (TBD), 4:10 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

DET


SEA

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69 degrees with a few showers; Winds 5-10 mph


GO TIGERS!


SWEEP THE MARINERS!

Lol. 69. HAHAHAHA
Sorry about that. It was set up that way.
But yeah. I hate west coast games.

Judging by the forecast next week.


I won't be saying 69 degrees for any game at Comerica.


89 maybe!


Especially late next week!

Live blog is up and running!

Rough inning so far for

GO TIGERS!

July 3, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	1	1	3	1	0	0	2		8	15	1
Seattle	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2		4	14	0

Detroit AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Granderson, CF 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 .298 Polanco, 2B 4 0 1 1 1 0 1 .319 Guillen, 3B 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 .294 Cabrera, 1B 5 1 1 0 0 1 2 .278 Joyce, RF 5 2 4 1 0 0 0 .239 Sheffield, DH 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 .233 Thomas, LF 4 0 0 0 1 1 5 .302 Rodriguez, C 5 0 2 3 0 1 3 .283 Hollimon, M, SS 5 2 2 1 0 1 4 .261 Totals 42 8 15 8 3 4 19 BATTING 2B: Joyce 2 (3, Silva, Lowe). 3B: Granderson (5, Silva). HR: Hollimon, M (1, 6th inning off Lowe, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Granderson 4; Polanco; Guillen; Cabrera; Joyce 6; Sheffield 2; Rodriguez 2; Hollimon, M 5. RBI: Polanco (30), Rodriguez 3 (28), Guillen (43), Joyce (12), Sheffield (18), Hollimon, M (2). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hollimon, M 2; Rodriguez 2; Cabrera. GIDP: Guillen. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Guillen (7, 2nd base off Lowe/Clement). FIELDING E: Verlander (2, pickoff). Outfield assists: Thomas (Ibanez at 2nd base). DP: (Thomas-Polanco).		Seattle AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Suzuki, RF 5 1 3 0 0 0 2 .305 Lopez, 2B 5 2 3 1 0 0 4 .301 Ibanez, LF 4 1 2 0 1 0 3 .280 Vidro, DH 5 0 1 2 0 0 4 .220 Beltre, 3B 5 0 2 1 0 2 2 .253 Reed, CF 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 .295 - a-Bloomquist, PH-CF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Sexson, 1B 4 0 1 0 1 1 5 .224 Clement, C 4 0 0 0 1 2 3 .170 Betancourt, SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .276 Totals 40 4 14 4 4 5 27 a-Flied out for Reed in the 8th. BATTING 2B: Lopez (21, Verlander), Betancourt (21, Verlander), Ibanez 2 (24, Seay, Jones, T). TB: Suzuki 3; Lopez 4; Ibanez 4; Vidro; Beltre 2; Sexson; Betancourt 3. RBI: Lopez (42), Vidro 2 (37), Beltre (44). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Sexson 3; Ibanez; Lopez; Suzuki; Clement. Team LOB: 13. FIELDING DP: (Lopez-Betancourt-Sexson).
Detroit IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Verlander (W, 5-9) 6.0 8 2 2 3 3 0 4.34 Seay 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.04 Zumaya 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2.84 Jones, T 0.2 3 2 2 1 0 0 5.23 Rodney (S, 1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.44		Seattle IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Silva (L, 4-10) 5.0 9 5 5 2 3 0 5.85 Lowe 2.0 3 1 1 0 1 1 4.35 Corcoran 2.0 3 2 2 1 0 0 4.09
Pitches-strikes: Verlander 109-68, Seay 12-8, Zumaya 13-9, Jones, T 23-14, Rodney 1-1, Silva 100-59, Lowe 26-19, Corcoran 31-19. Ground outs-fly outs: Verlander 7-8, Seay 0-1, Zumaya 1-1, Jones, T 2-0, Rodney 0-1, Silva 2-10, Lowe 2-3, Corcoran 6-0. Batters faced: Verlander 29, Seay 3, Zumaya 5, Jones, T 6, Rodney 1, Silva 26, Lowe 9, Corcoran 10. Inherited runners-scored: Rodney 2-0. Umpires: HP: Mike Winters. 1B: Brian Knight. 2B: Hunter Wendelstedt. 3B: Marvin Hudson. Weather: 68 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 1 mph, Out to RF. T: 2:52. Att: 22,523.