GDT: 8/10/09 - DET (59-51) AT BOS (62-47) - 7:10 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- The last time Edwin Jackson pitched at Fenway Park, he was mopping up the final two innings of a 13-4 Tampa Bay Rays victory in Game 4 of last year's American League Championship Series. If the Tigers are going to find their way into this year's postseason, Jackson's innings at Fenway on Monday night are going to be more important.

He's had his share of big games in Boston well before October. This one is just another chapter, but he's in a much bigger role on the Tigers than he was with the Rays.

"That's what makes the game fun," Jackson said. "You have to go in there and battle."

While the Red Sox will look to recover from a rough weekend at Yankee Stadium and regain some ground in their playoff chase, the Tigers will try once again to build off the momentum they put together in Detroit. They haven't won a road series in two full months since taking three of five from the White Sox, and they're facing a club that's just as tough at home as they are.

Considering that, they'd have a hard time frowning at simply a split of this four-game set. With Jackson pitching Monday and Justin Verlander going in Thursday's series finale, and neither of them going up against Josh Beckett, they have the matchups to get it. But they'd obviously love to take three.

To get there, though, they'll have to worry about more monsters than the one in left field.

"I'm not worried about the ballpark," Leyland said when asked about Fenway Park. "I'm worried about Beckett and [Kevin] Youkilis and all those guys."

For Monday, Youkilis, David Ortiz and the rest of Boston's lineup is Jackson's problem. But it's a familiar one. It's the one ballpark in the AL East where he never won as a member of the Rays, and though he has had a couple tough-luck quality starts there, he also has known how it feels to have Boston's veteran hitters force pitch after pitch until they can pounce on a mistake.

Though the Red Sox had their share of struggles on offense this year, they still rank third among AL teams in walks drawn and fourth in pitches seen.

To counter that, Jackson goes back to one of the philosophies that has carried him the entire season.

"We played Boston so many times, it's nothing new to pitch against Boston," Jackson said. "You go in there, and you know how the game's going to be. You have to be aggressive. You have to stay with your game plan, regardless of what they do."

Part of that will be the job of catcher Gerald Laird, who will catch Jackson on Monday night before rookie Alex Avila steps in to catch Rick Porcello and Armando Galarraga the next two days.

"There's so many guys, especially veteran guys, that know how to work the pitcher," Laird said. "They've got guys that are pitch-killers, foul balls off, stay alive. They've got a lot of veteran guys that know what they're doing. You have to stay focused with each matchup."

The Tigers would like to take a page from the Yankees and use some well-pitched, deep starts to give them a shot against them. But they also expect the Red Sox to come in from that series ready to take out their frustrations.

They're going to try to bounce back," Laird said. "Hopefully we can continue to pitch well and keep them down. They're definitely going to come out and try to do some damage."

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Edwin Jackson (8-5, 2.62 ERA)
Two ninth-inning runs denied Jackson a chance at a complete-game shutout on Wednesday against the Orioles, but the performance erased any sign of wearing down after his workhorse first half. He's 2-4 with a 5.44 ERA for his career against the Red Sox, including 0-4 in six outings at Fenway Park, but he had a pair of quality starts against Boston last year.

BOS: RHP Brad Penny (7-6, 5.20 ERA)
The big right-hander gave up three home runs in his last start, a 6-4 loss to the Rays. In a troubling trend, Penny has given up five runs or more in three of his last four starts. This is his first start of the season against the Tigers. In 11 Fenway starts this season, Penny is 5-2 with a 4.72 ERA. Opponents are hitting .290 against him.

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Tidbits

... There's a chance Carlos Guillen could play left field at some point during the series, but Leyland wasn't sure. Guillen, who missed 2 1/2 months with an injured right shoulder, has played DH exclusively since coming off the DL July 24.
... Miguel Cabrera is 4-for-11 for his career off Penny with three homers and seven RBIs.
... David Ortiz is 6-for-14 in his career off Jackson with two doubles, a homer and six RBIs.
... The Tigers' trip to Boston ties their shortest road trip of the year. They opened the season with a four-game series at Toronto. Every other road series has been part of a multi-city trip.
... Curtis Granderson's steal of third base on Sunday clinched his second 20-homer, 20-steal season in three years. He's one of three Tigers to have multiple 20-20 seasons; Kirk Gibson has four and Alan Trammell has two.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Tuesday: Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-7, 4.30 ERA) at Red Sox (TBD), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 6-10, 5.23 ERA) at Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 13-4, 3.12 ERA), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Tigers (Justin Verlander, 12-6, 3.45 ERA) at Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 1-2, 5.33 ERA), 1:35 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

TIGERS

1. :curtis: Granderson, CF
   
2. :placido: Polanco, 2B
   
3. :thames: Thames, LF
   
4. Cabrera, 1B
   
5. Guillen, DH
   
6. Ordonez, RF
   
7. Inge, 3B
   
8. Laird, C
   
9. Everett, SS
   

P: :jackson: Edwin Jackson

RED SOX

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
   
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
   
3. Victor Martinez, C
   
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
   
5. David Ortiz, DH
   
6. J.D. Drew, RF
   
7. Jason Bay, LF
   
8. Casey Kotchman, 1B
   
9. Nick Green, SS
   

SP: Brad Penny

yes, let's go Tigers - go Jackson!!!! We luv ya boys!!

Let's go Ed!

Inning 1
Top Half

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson flies out to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Placido Polanco singles on a line drive to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

B:2 S:1 O:2 -
Marcus Thames pops out to catcher Victor Martinez in foul territory.

B:4 S:0 O:2 -
Miguel Cabrera walks. Placido Polanco to 2nd.

Come on Los!

Damn. 2 stranded as we head to the bottom of the 1st.

B:3 S:1 O:3 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to left fielder Jason Bay.

0-0 after .5 innings

gdennis59 wrote:

Damn. 2 stranded as we head to the bottom of the 1st.

sadly, whats new...

Bottom Half

B:1 S:1 O:0 -
Jacoby Ellsbury doubles (18) on a line drive to left fielder Marcus Thames.

Woulda been a nice catch by Marcus, just off the end of his glove.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

Damn. 2 stranded as we head to the bottom of the 1st.

sadly, whats new...

I know.

But Miguel has been on a tear lately. Hopefully he can do well tonight. He's hit Penny well.

Full count on Pedroia!

Let's go Ed! We need this series!

Fuck!

2 run homer by Pedroia!

Calm down Ed! 2 big hits in a row?! Seriously?!

B:3 S:2 O:0 -
Dustin Pedroia homers (9) on a fly ball to left field. Jacoby Ellsbury scores.
BOS 2, DET 0

he should have thrown a slider instead of a fast ball

Victor flies out to left.

Finally one out.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Victor Martinez lines out to left fielder Marcus Thames.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

he should have thrown a slider instead of a fast ball

I wouldn't throw an inside fastball to Pedroia either. At least put it away. But yes, a slider would have been better. Steve Phillips was talking about that.

Another deep hit. Long single by Youkilis.

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Kevin Youkilis singles on a fly ball to left fielder Marcus Thames.

AT LEAST throw strikes to Ortiz.

2-0

Get em over!

tight strike zone

Fly out to left.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
David Ortiz flies out to left fielder Marcus Thames.

Drew single.

Not calling the outside at all.

2 out.

Get the last one!

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
J. D. Drew singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson. Kevin Youkilis to 2nd.