GDT: 7/5/09 - DET (44-36) at MIN (42-40) - 2:10 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS -- The last time Rick Porcello faced the Twins, he held Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Denard Span all hitless. Yes, they all played. No, he probably isn't expecting to do that again.

With one more game left in the Tigers' latest visit to the Metrodome, manager Jim Leyland is long since tired of seeing Mauer, Morneau and Span at the plate, and exasperated with seeing Span hit whatever pitches Detroit comes up with to throw him. If Porcello can keep them off the basepaths, or least let them on less often than they have been, he'll give the Tigers a chance to win the series.

He'll also give his manager a drop in his stress level.

"We've tried everything," Leyland said after Span's five-hit game in Friday's series opener. "We just haven't been able to get the guy out. ... He hits .350 off left-handers, and he hits our right-handers, too. We just haven't been able to get the guy out for whatever reason.

"I don't know. I'm thinking about throwing [him] the blooper pitch. I'm dead serious, too. I'm not kidding you. I'm thinking about trying to get in his head a little bit and have a guy throw a blooper ball."

Porcello doesn't have a blooper ball, or an eephus pitch, or any sort of super-slow trick pitch. But he has a sinker, and when it's on, he has a way of knocking hitters off their game.

Minnesota clearly seemed like one such group of hitters when the Twins met Porcello on May 5 at Comerica Park. The 20-year-old scattered four singles and three walks over his seven scoreless innings, and he left the Twins to take 18 called strikes, his second-highest total of the season. Minnesota swung and missed at just five Porcello pitches all night, but that allowed him to get through his seven innings over just 87 pitches.

He could use that kind of efficiency again. He survived through the sixth inning in only one of his six June outings, the exception being his 3-1 win over the Pirates, and his two outings after that saw him use up 97 pitches to last five and 5 2/3 innings, respectively. He left in the fifth inning of last Monday's loss at Oakland with 78 pitches used and nine hits allowed.

Leyland said after that game that he wasn't concerned about Porcello. But he admitted Friday and Saturday that he's concerned about Mauer and Morneau, especially after Morneau fell a triple shy of the cycle against Edwin Jackson on Saturday afternoon. Leyland's willing to walk the two instead of letting them beat his team, but he can't do much when there's nobody on base.

"I have as much respect for those two guys during the course of the game," Leyland said. "They remind me a little bit, and [third-base coach] Gene Lamont talked a lot about them, of [the Astros' Craig] Biggio and [Jeff] Bagwell -- the tandem of those guys and how professional they were, they set the tone for the whole team the way they go about their business with dignity, the way they work. Obviously, they're talented. They're special. I can't think of a better 1-2 punch in baseball."

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Rick Porcello (8-5, 3.90 ERA)
Porcello surrendered five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings against the A's on Monday. He pitched his way into trouble in the fourth, but he was able to limit the damage to two runs, inducing a double-play ball to strand a runner at third. Porcello didn't have the same luck in the fifth. Mark Ellis hit a two-run shot to left, then Matt Holliday pushed the lead to 5-0 with an RBI groundout to knock Porcello out of the game. The righty will look to rebound against a Minnesota lineup he held scoreless over seven innings on May 5.

MIN: RHP Nick Blackburn (6-4, 3.10 ERA)
Blackburn delivered his eighth straight quality start for the Twins in his last outing, but he had to work his way out of trouble a few times in his six innings vs. the Royals. Blackburn allowed three runs (two earned) on 10 hits -- only the second time he's given up 10 or more hits in a start this season. The right-hander said he gave up too many two-out hits, but he was pleased by his ability to work out of trouble. He's 1-3 against the Tigers in five career appearances (four starts) while posting a 5.76 ERA over 25 innings.

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Tidbits

... The Tigers will find out which of their players make the All-Star Game when rosters are announced Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on TBS, just prior to the start of the finale with the Twins. Among the hopefuls are Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge, Justin Verlander, Jackson and Curtis Granderson.
... Cabrera is 4-for-9 lifetime off Blackburn with a double, home run and six RBIs. Magglio Ordonez is 3-for-6 against Blackburn.
... Reliever Freddy Dolsi likely won't be available Sunday after his extra-inning work Friday night. Leyland would like to give Joel Zumaya another day's rest, as well.
... The Tigers are 10-2 on Sundays this season.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Monday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 5-7, 5.34 ERA) vs. Royals (Gil Meche, 4-8, 4.20 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET• Tuesday: Tigers (Justin Verlander, 8-4, 3.54 ERA) vs. Royals (Bruce Chen, 0-2, 4.38 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Tigers (TBD) vs. Royals (Zack Greinke, 10-4, 2.00 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

TIGERS

1. :curtis: Granderson, CF
   
2. Santiago, 2B
   
3. Cabrera, 1B
   
4. Kelly, LF
   
5. Inge, 3B
   
6. Ordonez, DH
   
7. :anderson: Anderson, RF
   
8. Laird, C
   
9. Everett, SS
   

P: Rick Porcello

TWINS

1. Denard Span, CF
   
2. Brendan Harris, SS
   
3. Joe Mauer, C
   
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
   
5. Jason Kubel, DH
   
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
   
7. Joe Crede, 3B
   
8. Delmon Young, LF
   
9. Nick Punto, 2B
   

P: Nick Blackburn

Congrats to Verlander, Jackson and Granderson on making the All-Star Team!

Inning 1
Top Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out, second baseman Nick Punto to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Ramon Santiago grounds out, second baseman Nick Punto to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Miguel Cabrera singles on a soft line drive to right fielder Michael Cuddyer.

B:1 S:0 O:3 -
Don Kelly grounds out, second baseman Nick Punto to first baseman Justin Morneau.

0-0

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Denard Span grounds out, second baseman Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Brendan Harris grounds out, shortstop Adam Everett to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Joe Mauer flies out to left fielder Don Kelly.

0-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half


B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Brandon Inge strikes out swinging.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, second baseman Nick Punto to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Josh Anderson pops out to second baseman Nick Punto.

0-0 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:3 S:2 O:1 -
Justin Morneau grounds out, second baseman Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Jason Kubel doubles (18) on a fly ball to right fielder Josh Anderson.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Michael Cuddyer swinging.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Joe Crede grounds out, second baseman Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

0-0 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Gerald Laird grounds out, shortstop Brendan Harris to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Adam Everett grounds out, third baseman Joe Crede to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson walks.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
With Ramon Santiago batting, Curtis Granderson steals (15) 2nd base.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Ramon Santiago called out on strikes.

0-0 after 2.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Delmon Young swinging.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
Nick Punto lines out to shortstop Adam Everett.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Denard Span pops out to second baseman Ramon Santiago.

0-0 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera pops out to second baseman Nick Punto.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Don Kelly flies out to left fielder Delmon Young.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Brandon Inge swinging.

0-0 after 3.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Brendan Harris called out on strikes.

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Joe Mauer singles on a ground ball to left fielder Don Kelly.

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Justin Morneau homers (21) on a fly ball to center field. Joe Mauer scores.
MIN 2, DET 0

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:3 S:0 O:1 -
Jason Kubel singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
With Michael Cuddyer batting, Jason Kubel caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Gerald Laird to second baseman Ramon Santiago.

B:4 S:2 O:2 -
Michael Cuddyer walks.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Joe Crede singles on a soft fly ball to left fielder Don Kelly. Michael Cuddyer to 3rd.


B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Delmon Young singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson. Michael Cuddyer scores. Joe Crede to 2nd.
MIN 3, DET 0

B:4 S:2 O:2 -
Nick Punto walks. Joe Crede to 3rd. Delmon Young to 2nd.


B:0 S:0 O:2 - Denard Span singles on a ground ball to
shortstop Adam Everett. Joe Crede scores. Delmon Young scores. Nick
Punto scores. Throwing error by shortstop Adam Everett.
MIN 6, DET 0

B:3 S:1 O:3 -
Brendan Harris grounds out, third baseman Brandon Inge to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

MIN 6, DET 0 after 4 innngs

Inning 5
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, shortstop Brendan Harris to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Josh Anderson grounds out, third baseman Joe Crede to first baseman Justin Morneau.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Gerald Laird called out on strikes.

MIN 6, DET 0 after 4.5 innngs