GDT: 7/12/08 - DET (46-46) VS MINN (52-41) - 3:55 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- Every time the Tigers get rolling, the Twins appear to put on the brakes.

And it's happening again.

Detroit came into its four-game set against Minnesota with second place in the American League Central in sight. The club had won three straight and only trailed the second-place Twins by 3 1/2 games. A series sweep would've given the Tigers second place behind the White Sox heading into the All-Star break, along with an undeniable confidence boost for the second half.

Two losses later, Detroit can only hope to salvage a series split. Third place at the break is a lock.

Worse news, a loss in Saturday's regionally televised game on FOX would give the club a series loss -- the second in the past two weeks against Minnesota.

"We need to come out and forget about what's happened the last couple losses," Tigers outfielder Matt Joyce said. "Every time we get something going, the Twins are right there to stop us. But they're a good team. They grind it out and make us work for it."

In early May, the Tigers came within a game of .500 after sweeping the Yankees. The Twins then swept them with a combined score of 22-8.

Then just last week, Detroit won five straight to climb above .500 for the first time this season. The Tigers won the first game of a series at the Metrodome, but then dropped the next two -- including their 10th shutout defeat this season.

"They're a good team," third baseman Carlos Guillen said. "They do everything right. They have good speed. They have good at-bats. They put the ball in play. They do what it takes to win."

That includes taming the Tigers' bats. Detroit has gone 5-for-21 (.238) with runners in scoring position and has left 19 runners on base.

"We need to win and get it back turned around," Joyce said. "They have our number right now. We need to come out and get a fire lit under us. We'll see what happens. It's all right. We'll get 'em."


Pitching matchup

DET: LHP Nate Robertson (6-7, 5.19 ERA)
Just when Robertson seemed doomed to a summer of high pitch counts and quick hooks, the sixth-year veteran turned in arguably his best start in two years. He ended up with no decision Sunday at Seattle, but his nine innings of work with a lone run allowed on four hits essentially won the game for Detroit by allowing the Tigers' bullpen to outlast its Mariners counterpart. Any similar effort against the Twins would be a big boost for a Tigers club looking to close out the season's first half strong.


MIN: RHP Scott Baker (5-2, 3.32 ERA)
Baker continued to impress against potent lineups as he held the Red Sox scoreless over seven innings at Fenway Park. The right-hander allowed just five hits, walking two and striking out seven while throwing 94 pitches. The heat and humidity in Boston seemed to wear Baker down a bit late in his outing, but he still managed to produce yet another quality start. He'll face the Tigers for the fourth time this season in his final start before the All-Star break. He's 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in those three starts.


Tidbits

Edgar Renteria said before Friday's game his left hamstring feels fine. Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Renteria will likely play the two remaining games before the All-Star break. ... Injured outfielder Magglio Ordonez (pulled oblique) has taken part in pregame drills with hitting coach Lloyd McClendon and team strength coach Javair Gillett this week. The Tigers don't expect to have last season's American League batting champion back until after the All-Star break. ... Jeff Larish took infield practice at third base before Friday's game. ... The cat found by Joyce in the Tigers' clubhouse earlier this week has been taken to an animal rescue shelter, the rookie outfielder said. ... Ivan Rodriguez is hitting .392 in his past 21 games.

On the Internet

MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FOX

On radio
• 97.1FM/1270AM

Up next


• Sun., July 13: Tigers (RHP Justin Verlander, (6-9, 4.24 ERA)) vs. Twins (RHP Nick Blackburn (7-4, 3.72 ERA)) , 1:05 p.m. ET

• July 13
• Taco Bell All-Star Sunday featuring:
• XM All-Star Futures Game, 12:37 p.m. ET
• Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, 4:00 p.m. ET
• Monday-Wednesday, July 14-16: All-Star break

• July 14
• Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring:
• MLB All-Star Batting Practice, 5:30 p.m. ET (AL) and 6:25 p.m. ET (NL)
• State Farm Home Run Derby, 8:00 p.m. ET

• July 15
• MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show presented by Chevrolet, 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET
• 79th MLB All-Star Game, 8:00 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS

BLOG

Muggy, Temps in the 80's Chance of Storms; A few may be severe


Hopefully none from 3:55 through 7pm


GO TIGERS

Wake up Tigers Bats


The Twins gonna steal this series if we don't score runs


Let's kick ass on Saturday

anybody for blog?

To the top of the 2nd, 0-0, rain falling at a pretty good clip. We're kinda lookin' still asleep.

Bottom of 6th, tied 2-2

Top of the 8th, we're down 5-2

Wait, what happened???

Top of the 9th 6-5 Twins

Zoom pitching

1 down

double

Lets go Tigers!!!

Get that last run and get the win!!!

Wild pitch by Zoom puts runner on 3rd

Mauer

Intent bb for Morneau

Lets go, get to the bottom with no damage and score!

Kubel walks

Young

3 outs

Wahoo!!!
I gotta eat, be back in like 15 minutes.

Nathan pitching

:sheff:

walk

Larish

Come on!!
We NEED this win!!!

:curtis:

Tigers LOSE 5-6

damnit!
We need more wins!!! and better pitching!!!!

July 12, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	1	0		6	12	1
Detroit	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0		5	7	0

Minnesota AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Gomez, CF 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 .256 Casilla, 2B 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .316 Mauer, C 5 1 2 2 0 1 2 .324 Morneau, 1B 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 .323 Monroe, DH 3 1 0 0 1 2 1 .203 - a-Kubel, PH-DH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .265 Young, LF 5 1 2 0 0 1 4 .286 Buscher, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .316 Harris, SS 3 1 3 4 0 0 0 .262 Span, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .338 Totals 38 6 12 6 3 7 17 a-Walked for Monroe in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Buscher (5, Lopez), Casilla (13, Zumaya). HR: Harris (5, 7th inning off Robertson, 0 on, 0 out), Mauer (5, 7th inning off Robertson, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Gomez; Casilla 3; Mauer 5; Morneau; Young 2; Buscher 2; Harris 6. RBI: Harris 4 (31), Mauer 2 (41). 2-out RBI: Harris 2; Mauer 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Span 2; Young 2. SF: Harris. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Young (10, 3rd base off Robertson/Inge). FIELDING E: Casilla (5, throw).		Detroit AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Granderson, CF 5 1 1 2 0 2 4 .295 Polanco, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .306 Guillen, 3B 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .284 Cabrera, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .288 Joyce, RF 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 .267 - a-Raburn, PH-RF 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .236 Thames, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .269 Sheffield, DH 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .217 Inge, C 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .224 Santiago, SS 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .348 - b-Larish, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .234 Totals 33 5 7 5 2 8 13 a-Grounded out for Joyce in the 8th. b-Struck out for Santiago in the 9th. BATTING HR: Joyce (8, 4th inning off Baker, 1 on, 1 out), Granderson (10, 8th inning off Baker, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Granderson 4; Polanco; Guillen; Joyce 4; Inge 2; Santiago. RBI: Joyce 2 (17), Granderson 2 (33), Raburn (11). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Polanco 2; Thames. S: Santiago. Team LOB: 5.
Minnesota IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Baker (W, 6-2) 7.0 6 4 4 0 4 2 3.47 Crain (H, 11) 0.1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2.79 Reyes (H, 11) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.77 Bass (H, 3) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.24 Nathan (S, 27) 1.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1.13		Detroit IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Robertson (L, 6-8) 7.0 10 5 5 0 4 2 5.26 Lopez 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 0 2.84 Zumaya 1.0 1 0 0 2 2 0 1.74
Baker pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. WP: Reyes, Zumaya 2. IBB: Morneau (by Zumaya). HBP: Santiago (by Baker). Pitches-strikes: Baker 103-67, Crain 12-7, Reyes 4-2, Bass 3-2, Nathan 23-12, Robertson 95-65, Lopez 25-13, Zumaya 31-17. Ground outs-fly outs: Baker 6-11, Crain 0-0, Reyes 1-0, Bass 1-0, Nathan 0-0, Robertson 12-5, Lopez 0-2, Zumaya 1-0. Batters faced: Baker 28, Crain 3, Reyes 1, Bass 1, Nathan 4, Robertson 31, Lopez 5, Zumaya 6. Inherited runners-scored: Reyes 2-1, Bass 1-0. Umpires: HP: Ed Montague. 1B: Ron Kulpa. 2B: Jim Wolf. 3B: Jerry Layne. Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 14 mph, R to L. T: 3:04. Att: 41,301.