GDT: 7/7/09 - DET (44-38) vs KC (36-46) - 7:05 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- Brandon Inge has two more games in which to punctuate his case for the American League's 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote. Believe it or not, his meeting with Bruce Chen Tuesday might be the tougher of the two, maybe tougher than facing Zack Greinke.

While Inge is 9-for-32 (.281) for his career off Greinke, including 4-for-12 over the last couple years, he's 0-for-8 with three strikeouts off Chen. It defies his reputation for hitting finesse lefties, but it's also part of his distant history.

All those meetings with Chen came in 2004 and 2005, before Inge even had his solid 2006 season. With his new positioning at the plate that he honed in Spring Training, he has made pitchers pay all year for approaching him with the same pitch selection that they did in past years. Tuesday will tell if that makes a difference for Chen.

It'll also tell if it makes a difference for Detroit's offense, whose struggles against various pitchers have included left-handers at a rate that they haven't had in a few years.

The Tigers and their righty-heavy lineup went 28-15 against left-handed starters two years ago, and 26-22 last season. They're 16-10 this year when a southpaw starts for the opposition, including losses in four of their past five meetings with lefties on their most recent road trip -- Francisco Liriano, Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson and Wandy Rodriguez.

With just eight runs scored over Detroit's past three games, all losses, the Tigers are looking for some sort of spark. The problem is that very few Tigers seem to be going well enough to provide it at the moment.

"Basically, we just haven't knocked the ball around very well, for whatever reason," manager Jim Leyland said. "It's kind of puzzling, really. You keep going at it, doing all the things you do, but we're not getting anything early on to get people excited and get us going a little bit. We're not getting a whole lot of that, and I think sometimes guys press a little bit when we do get some chances."

The pressing includes the top of the Tigers order. Curtis Granderson, just named to the American League All-Star Team, is 8-for-39 over his past 10 games. Placido Polanco is in an 8-for-40 slump, and Miguel Cabrera is 4-for-20 in his past four games.

When the Tigers have battled their way to wins despite offensive struggles, Inge has sometimes been the catalyst. It was his two-out, ninth-inning home run that carried the Tigers past the Astros June 28 at Minute Maid Park, and his two-run shot Sunday avoided what would've been a shutout to Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn.

Whether those sort of dramatic shots help him in online balloting at MLB.com will be seen over the next couple days, but he isn't trying for it.

"I would love to, and it would be an honor," Inge said. "But I can't control it. I just play as hard as I can and be the person that I am."

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (8-4, 3.54 ERA)
Verlander only made a couple mistakes Wednesday. Unfortunately, the A's made him pay for both. Oakland hit a pair of two-run home runs -- an opposite-field poke by Jack Cust and a line-drive shot courtesy of Jason Giambi -- to hand Verlander the loss. He was solid otherwise, walking one and striking out six in six innings. Verlander had his way with Kansas City on May 25, throwing seven shutout innings to earn the win. He struck out eight and didn't walk anybody.

KC: LHP Bruce Chen (0-2, 4.38 ERA)
Chen has proven to be a solid addition to the rotation after two starts. He pitched six innings and allowed two runs on five hits against the White Sox in his second outing with the Royals. He showed the ability to make batters miss, striking out five while walking just one. It was a slight improvement over his first start. Chen went 6 1/3 innings and gave up four runs against Pittsburgh on June 27. Chen is back in the Majors for the first time since 2007, after missing the entire 2008 season after undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery on his left elbow. Before making the start against Pittsburgh, Chen hadn't started a big league game since Aug. 4, 2006 with Baltimore against the Yankees.

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Tidbits

...Ramon Santiago could be away from the team Tuesday. His wife is in Detroit and expecting their first son at any time.
... Ryan Raburn will get another start Tuesday coming off a five-game hitting streak, during which he's batting 9-for-16.
... Tuesday is the Tigers' first Elvis Night, featuring tribute artists performing before the game and a kids' Elvis impersonator contest.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Wednesday: Tigers (Lucas French, 0-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Royals (Zack Greinke, 10-4, 2.00 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
• Friday: Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 6-4, 2.59 ERA) vs. Indians (Carl Pavano, 7-7, 5.36 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Kansas City AVG
DeJesus, D, LF .252
Bloomquist, SS .284
Butler, 1B .285
Teahen, 3B .292
Guillen, J, RF .245
Jacobs, DH .225
Callaspo, 2B .300
Olivo, C .254
Freel, CF .140

Detroit AVG
Granderson, CF .255
Polanco, 2B .256
Cabrera, M, 1B .322
Thames, DH .257
Raburn, LF .287
Inge, 3B .266
Ordonez, RF .264
Laird, C .241
Everett, SS .267

Current Conditions

Comerica Park

Partly Cloudy 72 F

Humidity: 39 %

Wind: from the NNW at 10 mph

Barometer: 29.87 in

last updated: 7/7/09 6:05 PM EDT

Inning 1
Top Half

B:2 S:2 O:0 -
David DeJesus singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:3 S:3 O:2 - Willie Bloomquist swinging
and David DeJesus caught stealing 2nd, catcher Gerald Laird to second
baseman Placido Polanco.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Billy Butler doubles (23) on a line drive to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Mark Teahen swinging.

0-0

come on Tigers!

Bottom Half

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out, second baseman Alberto Callaspo to first baseman Billy Butler.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Placido Polanco flies out to right fielder Jose Guillen.

B:2 S:1 O:2 -
Miguel Cabrera homers (17) on a fly ball to left field.
DET 1, KC 0

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Marcus Thames swinging.

DET 1, KC 0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Jose Guillen singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:3 S:3 O:1 -
Mike Jacobs swinging.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Alberto Callaspo singles on a line drive to right fielder Magglio Ordonez. Jose Guillen to 3rd.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Miguel Olivo swinging.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
Ryan Freel reaches on catcher interference by Gerald Laird. Alberto Callaspo to 2nd. Ryan Freel to 1st.

B:2 S:2 O:2 - David DeJesus doubles (17) on a line
drive to left fielder Ryan Raburn. Jose Guillen scores. Alberto
Callaspo scores. Ryan Freel scores.
KC 3, DET 1



B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:0 S:2 O:3 -
Willie Bloomquist grounds out, third baseman Brandon Inge to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

KC 3, DET 1 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Ryan Raburn pops out to first baseman Billy Butler.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Brandon Inge flies out to center fielder Ryan Freel.

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, shortstop Willie Bloomquist to first baseman Billy Butler.

KC 3, DET 1 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Billy Butler flies out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Mark Teahen called out on .

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

KC 3, DET 1 after 2.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Gerald Laird lines out to shortstop Willie Bloomquist.

B:4 S:2 O:1 -
Adam Everett walks.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson swinging.


B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Placido Polanco homers (6) on a fly ball to left field. Adam Everett scores.
KC 3, DET 3

B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Miguel Cabrera walks.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Marcus Thames flies out to right fielder Jose Guillen.

KC 3, DET 3 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Mike Jacobs swinging.

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Alberto Callaspo on foul tip.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Miguel Olivo swinging.

KC 3, DET 3 after 3.5 innings

Verlander with 8

Bottom Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Ryan Raburn swinging.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Brandon Inge pops out to first baseman Billy Butler.

B:1 S:0 O:3 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, shortstop Willie Bloomquist to first baseman Billy Butler.

KC 3, DET 3 after 4 innings

Inning 5
Top Half

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Ryan Freel swinging.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
David DeJesus pops out to third baseman Brandon Inge in foul territory.

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Willie Bloomquist called out on .

KC 3, DET 3 after 4.5 innings

10 for

Bottom Half

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Gerald Laird pops out to shortstop Willie Bloomquist.

B:4 S:1 O:1 -
Adam Everett walks.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to catcher Miguel Olivo in foul territory.


B:3 S:2 O:2 - Placido Polanco singles on a fly ball to
center fielder Ryan Freel. Adam Everett scores. Placido Polanco to 2nd
on the throw.
DET 4, KC 3

B:4 S:0 O:2 -
Bruce Chen intentionally walks Miguel Cabrera.


B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Marcus Thames homers (8) on a fly ball to left center field. Placido Polanco scores. Miguel Cabrera scores.
DET 7, KC 3

B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Ryan Raburn walks.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Pitcher Change: Robinson Tejeda replaces Bruce Chen.