GDT GM2: 9/29/09 - DET (83-72) VS MIN (81-74) - 7:05 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander have long been seen as a potential one-two punch for years to come in the Tigers rotation. If they can both deliver Tuesday, they might well provide the long-awaited knockout punch to the Twins.

After a line of storms that stretched across Michigan washed out Monday's series opener, Detroit and Minnesota now have four games in three days to try to decide who has the upper hand in the American League Central. Tuesday's day-night doubleheader isn't winner-take-all, but a sweep either way lets the winner take command. In the Tigers' case, it would leave them needing only one win Wednesday or Thursday to clinch their first division title since 1987.

Even a split gets them closer to at least holding ground in the series, though it leaves them needing another win Wednesday or Thursday to ensure they're still on top of the division by themselves entering the weekend.

In that sense, the Tigers can be glad to have their two best-performing starters down the stretch going Tuesday. They'll deal with the ramifications in their rotation later.

After a year of defying expectations and standards for his age, Porcello takes the mound in what might be the biggest game of the Tigers' season -- at least, for a few hours. It might also be his best case of avenging a loss. He lost a pitchers' duel against the Twins a week and a half ago despite a quality start. However, he isn't thinking of it as a revenge game.

"It's a big game," Porcello admitted, "but it's just another game. I'm trying to take that approach and stay even-keeled throughout the entire time."

That hasn't been a problem for him for much of the season. His teammates aren't expecting it to be an issue now, not after all the other key games in which he has pitched this year in his first experience above Class A ball.

"We've put him in every situation," Curtis Granderson said. "He started against the Yankees. He started against the Red Sox. He's thrown against Chicago here. He's thrown in big division matchups. Mentally, he's just been ready to go. I think that's the big thing, the fact that you've given him all the opportunities to do it from day one. There's no second-guessing him. There's no judgment side from the players' standpoint."

When manager Jim Leyland and team officials agreed to put him in the Tigers' rotation out of Spring Training, they did it with the belief that he had the maturity already to pitch in big situations and learn from them. His success, and the way he has succeeded lately, has seemingly proven them right. When hitters started sitting on his sinker and passing on his curveball, he dusted off his slider as a breaking pitch and became more of a power pitcher with four-seam fastballs to challenge hitters and set up the sinker.

Now it's his turn to adjust from his previous meeting with the Twins. He induced two dozen balls put in play over his six innings of three-run ball, scattering eight hits, but he also had nine swings and misses from them. The Twins were aggressive on him, and they had a Michael Cuddyer two-run homer and a Delmon Young RBI double to show for it.

"You look at some of the mistakes I made then and try to correct it," Porcello said. "That's the biggest thing. We're going to go in there with a game plan and see what happens. Obviously things could change throughout the course of a game, adjustments and whatnot. We know what we want to do, and we're going to go out there and try to do it. It's going to be a fun series."

If he can pull out a victory Tuesday afternoon, he'll leave the Twins in desperate need of a win against Verlander in the nightcap. They toppled him a week and a half ago at Minnesota with help from a fly ball lost against the backdrop of the Metrodome roof and a shattered-bat bloop RBI double, but they won't have their home park for an advantage Tuesday.

Verlander is 8-2 with a 2.62 ERA at Comerica Park this year, holding opponents to a 2.16 batting average and a .622 OPS. One of those two losses, however, came against the Twins, who hit him for five runs on seven hits over six innings Aug. 8 in an 11-0 loss.

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Pitching matchup

Game 2

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.41 ERA)
Verlander gets a rematch against a Twins lineup he dominated for seven innings before a fly-ball double lost against the backdrop of the Metrodome roof and a broken-bat bloop single on a 101-mph fastball helped set off a five-run eighth inning in a difficult Tigers defeat. This time, he'll have the night sky of Detroit in his favor, and a chance at tying his career high in wins. His win Thursday at Cleveland, however, showed that he can't afford to get too fastball-happy.


MIN: LHP Brian Duensing (5-1, 3.33 ERA)
Duensing received his first real test in the rotation during his previous turn in Chicago. The left-hander was knocked out of the contest after 5 2/3 innings, having allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits. He was removed from the game after giving up a two-run homer to Jermaine Dye that cut the Twins lead to one in the sixth. Still, Duensing remained undefeated (5-0) since moving to the rotation full-time last month. The Twins hope that Duensing will be a little better at keeping his pitches down in the zone when he starts in Detroit during that critical series. Duensing is 1-0 with a 0.61 ERA in three appearances (one start) vs. the Tigers this season.

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Tidbits

... Tickets for Monday's rainout can be used only for Tuesday's afternoon game.
... Monday's rainout gives lefty reliever Bobby Seay one more day to get ready for bullpen duty Tuesday. He was scheduled to play catch Monday and try to show the coaches and medical staff he could at least be available if needed. Seay hasn't pitched since Thursday, when he suffered a minor left pectoral strain pitching in Cleveland.
... Granderson is 6-for-10 over his past two games, including a leadoff homer Sunday, and he said he has hope that a recent adjustment with help from hitting coach Lloyd McClendon has put him on track for a final-week hitting performance.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Wednesday: Tigers (Eddie Bonine, 0-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. Twins (Carl Pavano, 13-11, 4.86 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Tigers (Nate Robertson, 2-2, 5.56 ERA) vs. Twins (Scott Baker, 14-9, 4.48 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 13-8, 3.36 ERA) vs. White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 13-8, 3.36 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Minnesota AVG
Span, RF .313
Cabrera, O, SS .275
Mauer, C .368
Kubel, DH .295
Cuddyer, 1B .278
Young, D, LF .271
Gomez, C, CF .231
Tolbert, 3B .229
Punto, 2B .232

Detroit AVG
Raburn, LF .283
Polanco, 2B .285
Ordonez, RF .297
Cabrera, M, 1B .329
Thames, DH .249
Inge, 3B .230
Granderson, CF .251
Laird, C .228
Everett, SS .235

JV needs to win us this game here. And some hits of Duensing would be wonderful as well.

Inning 1
Top Half

B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Denard Span grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Orlando Cabrera singles on a ground ball to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
Joe Mauer lines out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Jason Kubel flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

0-0 after .5 inning

Bottom Half

B:3 S:2 O:1 -
Ryan Raburn grounds out, shortstop Orlando Cabrera to first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Placido Polanco flies out to right fielder Denard Span in foul territory.

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

0-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Michael Cuddyer swinging.

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

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Carlos Gomez swinging.

0-0 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:2 S:1 O:0 -
Miguel Cabrera homers (33) on a line drive to left center field.
DET 1, MIN 0



B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Marcus Thames singles on a line drive to center fielder Carlos Gomez.

B:1 S:2 O:2 - Brandon Inge grounds into double play,
second baseman Nick Punto to shortstop Orlando Cabrera to first baseman
Michael Cuddyer. Marcus Thames out at 2nd.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out, second baseman Nick Punto to first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

DET 1, MIN 0 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Matt Tolbert grounds out to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Nick Punto called out on .

B:1 S:1 O:3 -
Denard Span lines out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

DET 1, MIN 0 after 2.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Gerald Laird grounds out, shortstop Orlando Cabrera to first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Adam Everett singles on a ground ball to shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Ryan Raburn swinging.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Placido Polanco singles on a ground ball to center fielder Carlos Gomez. Adam Everett to 3rd.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Magglio Ordonez doubles (22) on a line drive to left fielder Delmon Young. Adam Everett scores. Placido Polanco scores.
DET 3, MIN 0


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


B:1 S:0 O:3 -
Miguel Cabrera flies out to center fielder Carlos Gomez.

DET 3, MIN 0 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Orlando Cabrera lines out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
Joe Mauer grounds out, first baseman Miguel Cabrera to pitcher Justin Verlander.

B:2 S:1 O:2 -
Jason Kubel singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Michael Cuddyer grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

DET 3, MIN 0 after 3.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:3 O:1 -
Marcus Thames called out on .

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Brandon Inge doubles (14) on a line drive to left fielder Delmon Young.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson singles on a ground ball to second baseman Nick Punto. Brandon Inge to 3rd.

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

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Gerald Laird swinging.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Adam Everett grounds out, pitcher Brian Duensing to first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

DET 3, MIN 0 after 4 innings

Inning 5
Top Half

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

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Carlos Gomez called out on .

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Matt Tolbert flies out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

DET 3, MIN 0 after 4.5 innings

6 for JV

Bottom Half

B:4 S:2 O:0 -
Ryan Raburn walks.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Placido Polanco out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Brian Duensing to second baseman Nick Punto. Ryan Raburn to 2nd.

B:2 S:1 O:2 -
Magglio Ordonez flies out to center fielder Carlos Gomez. Ryan Raburn to 3rd.


B:4 S:0 O:2 -
Brian Duensing intentionally walks Miguel Cabrera.

B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Marcus Thames walks. Miguel Cabrera to 2nd. (bases loaded)

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

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Pitcher Change: Bob Keppel replaces Brian Duensing.


B:0 S:0 O:2 - Brandon Inge singles on a ground ball to
left fielder Delmon Young. Ryan Raburn scores. Miguel Cabrera scores.
Marcus Thames to 2nd.
DET 5, MIN 0

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to second baseman Nick Punto.

DET 5, MIN 0 after 5 innings

Inning 6
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Clete Thomas replaces right fielder Magglio Ordonez, batting 3rd, playing right field.

B:3 S:3 O:1 -
Nick Punto on foul tip.


B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Denard Span doubles (14) on a line drive to right fielder Clete Thomas.

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

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Orlando Cabrera singles on a line drive to left fielder Ryan Raburn. Denard Span scores.
DET 5, MIN 1

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Joe Mauer doubles (29) on a line drive to right fielder Clete Thomas. Orlando Cabrera to 3rd.

B:3 S:2 O:2 - Jason Kubel out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Curtis Granderson. Orlando Cabrera scores. Joe Mauer to 3rd.

DET 5, MIN 2

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

DET 5, MIN 2 after 5.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Gerald Laird pops out to catcher Joe Mauer in foul territory.

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
Adam Everett grounds out, third baseman Matt Tolbert to first baseman Michael Cuddyer.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Ryan Raburn singles on a line drive to left fielder Delmon Young.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Placido Polanco singles on a ground ball to center fielder Carlos Gomez. Ryan Raburn to 2nd.

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

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Pitcher Change: Ron Mahay replaces Bob Keppel.


B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Clete Thomas grounds into a force out, second baseman Nick Punto to shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Placido Polanco out at 2nd.

DET 5, MIN 2 after 6 innings