GDT: 7/22/09 - DET (49-42) VS SEA (49-44) - 7:05 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- For a week and a half, Armando Galarraga didn't have to worry about pitch location, or first-inning damage, or how many energy drinks he'd have before a game, or any other solutions he could figure to his first-half woes. Galarraga didn't go anywhere for the All-Star break, but he got away.

"Just trying to get my mind off things," Galarraga said. "It's a little break."

On Wednesday, he gets back to the reality of his season. And the reality is that he's going up against Felix Hernandez to start his second half.

After the Tigers were swept out of the Bronx with twin aces Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson, they have the chance to take this three-game series against the Mariners with the back half of their rotation. The challenge is that after slugging out a win against Seattle and fifth starter Garrett Olson, they now face the heart of a Mariners staff that owns the lowest ERA in the league.

After Hernandez gets his chance tonight at the park where he made his Major League debut, the Tigers will have to deal with suddenly stingy Jarrod Washburn in Thursday's series finale. It'll be a big test for a lineup that made an impression on manager Jim Leyland Tuesday, but was all but shut down on back-to-back afternoons at Yankee Stadium by CC Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain over the weekend.

They were selective, yet aggressive against Olson. That's a whole other challenge Wednesday.

"You always talk about being aggressive, but don't swing at bad pitches," Leyland said. "And we did that [Tuesday]. I thought everybody was patient, but everybody was aggressive. I thought we had a great approach, the best approach of the weekend."

Just as important for the Tigers, however, will be a good approach from Galarraga. He was coming off back-to-back solid outings against the A's and Royals, allowing two runs on seven hits over 13 1/3 combined innings, before the Indians made him use 56 pitches over his first three innings.

A strong outing tonight could lower his ERA under the 5.00 mark for the first time since mid-May. It could also allow the Tigers to feel a little better about a rotation that needs Galarraga eating innings in between rookies Rick Porcello and Luke French.

A solid outing from Galarraga could give them a shot against Hernandez, who's 6-0 with a 1.30 ERA over his last 10 starts, but has had mixed results against the Tigers. He won his last start at Comerica Park on Aug. 9, 2007, but gave up six earned runs on 10 hits over five innings in the process.

He has put his game together since then, enough though it seems more of a test for Detroit's offense than Hernandez's pitching.

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Armando Galarraga (5-8, 5.09 ERA)
In his first-ever meeting against the Mariners, Galarraga will try to pick up his pitching recovery that had been building before the All-Star break. He lost his last start with four runs on nine hits over six-plus innings against Cleveland last Saturday, but he pitched into the seventh inning with one run allowed in both of his previous outings. Pitching into the seventh itself is big for Galarraga and the Tigers, who badly need a third starter who can take on a big workload alongside Verlander and Jackson. If Galarraga can do it effectively, the Tigers rotation looks deep heading into their playoff run.

SEA: RHP Felix Hernandez (10-3, 2.51 ERA)
In his most recent start, Hernandez dominated the Indians most of the night, striking out eight and allowing two runs on five hits and a walk over eight innings in earning his 10th victory of 2009. Against the Tigers, who beat Hernandez in his debut in 2005, Hernandez has won four straight. In Detroit's first shot at King Felix this season, on April 17, Hernandez scattered seven hits and a walk over six innings of work, allowing three runs while earning the win. Hernandez is 4-2 lifetime against the Tigers.

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Tidbits

... Left fielder Carlos Guillen will resume his Minor League rehab assignment Wednesday for Triple-A Toledo. "He's going to go down there and hit for a few days," Leyland said, "and then we'll reevaluate after that." Given that, it's possible Guillen could be back with the Tigers by the end of the weekend.
... Magglio Ordonez will not be in Detroit's starting lineup Wednesday despite his grand slam in Tuesday's series opener. Leyland will load up his lineup with left-handed hitters against Hernandez, who has given up a .305 batting average and .842 OPS to lefties compared with a .241 average against righties.
... Miguel Cabrera has a career-high 16-game hitting streak.
... Leyland has not yet announced Detroit's starter for the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the White Sox, but hopes to do so Tuesday [Thursday]. The pitcher will be somebody not currently with the big league club.
... Dontrelle Willis is scheduled to pitch in a simulated game Wednesday at Triple-A Toledo, where he has been working out for much of the past two weeks.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Thursday: Tigers (Lucas French, 1-0, 1.89 ERA) vs. Mariners (Jarrod Washburn, 7-6, 2.87 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Justin Verlander, 10-5, 3.34 ERA) vs. White Sox (Jose Contreras, 4-8, 4.75 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Eddie Bonine, 0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. White Sox (Bartolo Colon, 3-6, 4.23 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Seattle AVG
Suzuki, I, RF .361
Branyan, 1B .275
Lopez, J, 2B .269
Griffey Jr., DH .215
Balentien, LF .223
Langerhans, CF .224
Johnson, Ro, C .209
Hannahan, 3B .191
Cedeno, SS .193

Detroit AVG
:curtis: Granderson, CF .256
:placido: Polanco, 2B .259
Cabrera, M, 1B .330
Thomas, C, RF .263
:thames: Thames, DH .271
:anderson: Anderson, J, LF .248
Raburn, 3B .262
Laird, C .239
Santiago, SS .261

75 degrees at game time; Overcast
chance of showers.

But steady rain holds off until around midnight; Low 63

SE winds 5-10mph

this might be pretty lopsided. I enjoy Gala, but he's got to show confidence or he won't last long.

RAIN DELAY

Inge not playing due to two banged up legs

Tigers getting ready to take the field

Inning 1
Top Half

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Ichiro Suzuki grounds out, shortstop Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Russell Branyan flies out to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Jose Lopez grounds out, third baseman Ryan Raburn to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

9 pitch 1st for Gala!

0-0

Bottom Half

B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Curtis Granderson singles on a line drive to left fielder Wladimir Balentien.


B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Placido Polanco singles on a line drive to center fielder Ryan Langerhans. Curtis Granderson to 3rd.

B:1 S:2 O:0 -
Dropped foul pop error by right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.

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

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Clete Thomas called out on strikes.

I don't think I like Clete at clean up... Shoulda had Marcus or Miggy there.

B:4 S:2 O:2 -
Marcus Thames walks. Placido Polanco to 2nd.

just foul... would have scored a couple runs

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Josh Anderson flies out to left fielder Wladimir Balentien.

0-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

Griffey Jr. flies out

Balentien flies out

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Rob Johnson grounds out, shortstop Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

0-0 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

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

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Gerald Laird flies out to center fielder Ryan Langerhans.

B:1 S:1 O:3 -
Ramon Santiago grounds out, shortstop Ronny Cedeno to first baseman Russell Branyan.

0-0 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Jack Hannahan grounds out, third baseman Ryan Raburn to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Ronny Cedeno lines out to second baseman Placido Polanco.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Ichiro Suzuki flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

3 innings 35 pitches for Gala, not bad!

0-0 after 2.5 innings

Gala is doing good. Could we have gotten him back?

Hopefully he stays good. He is a key part of the rotation. We just need to hit the ball like we did last night!

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out, first baseman Russell Branyan to pitcher Felix Hernandez.

gdennis59 wrote:

Gala is doing good. Could we have gotten him back?

Hopefully he stays good. He is a key part of the rotation. We just need to hit the ball like we did last night!

I think Gala has turned the corner!

Now we need RUNS!!

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Placido Polanco singles on a line drive to right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.

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