GDT: 9/2/10 - DET (65-68) AT MIN (77-56) - 8:10 p.m. ET

Baker, Twins have brooms at hand vs. Tigers

By Joey Nowak / MLB.com

It's not easy making a playoff push without a steady lineup because a handful of players are on the bench nursing injuries. But the Twins are certainly going to give it their best shot.

With a four-game lead in the American League Central after Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Tigers, it seems the Twins can rest easy -- the four-game advantage is one game short of the Twins' largest division lead of the year. But as Brian Fuentes (lower back), Orlando Hudson (sprained right ankle), Jason Kubel (left wrist soreness) and Jim Thome (back stiffness) deal with injuries on a day-to-day basis -- manager Ron Gardenhire's favorite phrase Wednesday -- the team struggles with the dilemma of whether to wait it out or call for reinforcements.

"We're day-to-day on that too," Gardenhire said. "I'm working on it as we speak. What we need to do is get all the guys off the disabled list. Once we get those guys we'll have about 50 here. We can't keep calling up a bunch of people and have all that. So we'll just have to get through it."

It's worked the past two games for the Twins, who clinched a series victory against the Tigers with a 4-3 win on Tuesday and Wednesday's 10-inning walk-off victory.

At this point, as the injury lingo goes, they're taking it day by day.

Two September callups, catcher Jose Morales and infielder Trevor Plouffe, will serve as reinforcements for now. Morales had an impact immediately, knocking in the Twins' first RBI on Wednesday with a sacrifice fly.

Fortunately, one thing Minnesota has been able to rely on lately has been the pitching performance of starter Scott Baker, who takes the ball for Thursday's series finale. He's won five straight decisions and has not lost since July 19 against Cleveland, notching a 3.02 ERA during the streak.

He'll take on three-time All-Star Justin Verlander, who is still looking to put together back-to-back wins for the first time since July 22. After going eight strong innings for the victory on Aug. 22 against Cleveland, he'll have his shot. He allowed just one earned run while striking out eight in the outing.

"I felt really good," Verlander said. "I felt a lot better, obviously, than in New York. And I felt like a bunch of the stuff I worked on in between this last start and this one paid off. Some of the adjustments I made, I was able to get my fastball command better.

It wasn't great. It wasn't as good as it's been, but I was throwing strikes with it. Just pitching, still having late life on the ball but not max effort."

Tigers: Raburn riding hot streak
Ryan Raburn is hitting .316 with seven doubles, eight homers and 21 RBIs over his past 25 games. Raburn had two pinch-hit at-bats Wednesday after straining his left rotator cuff on a swing Tuesday night, apparently when he took a swing aginst Minnesota closer Matt Capps. "He kind of quick-pitched me," Raburn said.

... Detroit catcher Max St. Pierre is still waiting to make his Major League debut after being called up Wednesday. St. Pierre hit .300 with seven doubles, five homers and 22 RBIs in 39 games with Triple-A Toledo. He played 978 games in more than 14 seasons at the Minor League level.

... Tigers pitchers have logged quality starts in 11 of their past 12 games.

Twins: Thome hot on McGwire's heels
After a pinch-hit single Wednesday, Thome remains one home run behind Mark McGwire (583) for ninth place on the all-time list. He's also one walk from pulling even with Frank Thomas (1,667) for ninth place in that category.

Worth noting
Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has hit safely in 30 of his past 35 games against the Twins and has the most home runs (11) and RBIs (32) against Minnesota since Sept. 2008.

... After going 11 straight road games with a homer, the Tigers have now gone without a long ball for two consecutive contests.

... The Twins will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the franchise with pregame festivities before Friday and Sunday's contests against the Rangers, setting Friday's first pitch back to 7:40 p.m. CT and Sunday's to 2:10 p.m.



Pitching matchup

TIGERS: RHP Justin Verlander (14-8, 3.58 ERA)
Verlander hasn't strung together back-to-back wins in more than a month, but he'll have a chance to do so in his next start, against the Twins, whom he held to two runs over 5 1/3 innings in a victory on July 9.

TWINS: RHP Scott Baker (12-9, 4.55 ERA)
Baker won his fifth straight decision in his last start against the Mariners, which is the longest such streak of his career. He has not lost since July 19 against Cleveland. Baker has a 3.02 ERA with 33 strikeouts during the streak.


RECENT RESULTS: The Tigers lost 2-1 to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings last night at Target Field. Max Scherzer limited the Twins to one run on four hits in nine innings of work, but did not factor in the decision. Jhonny Peralta led the Tigers offense with two hits, including a RBI, while Austin Jackson added two hits, including a double and a run scored. The Tigers continue a 10-game road trip tonight at Target Field with the final game of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers conclude the trip with a threegame set at Kansas City beginning Friday.

RABURN, SCHERZER EARN TIGERS HONORS FOR AUGUST: Ryan Raburn and Max Scherzer have been selected the Tigers Player and Pitcher of the Month for August, respectively. Raburn hit .308 (32x104) with 21 runs scored, seven doubles, eight home runs and 21 RBI in 28 games during the month. Raburn tied for fourth in the American League with eight home runs during the month, while he was tied for sixth with 21 RBI and eighth with a .606 slugging percentage. Scherzer posted a 3-1 record, 1.29 ERA (35.0IP/5ER) and 31 strikeouts in five starts during August. Scherzer ranked fourth in the American League with the 1.29 ERA during August.

PERALTA PICKING UP THE PRODUCTION: Jhonny Peralta collected a pair of hits and a RBI last night against the Twins and is batting .344 (21x61) with three doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI over his last 16 games dating back to August 15. He is fifth in the American League with 16 RBI during that stretch.

JACKSON REACHES 30 DOUBLES: Austin Jackson ripped his 30th double of the season last night against the Twins. He is the ninth rookie in franchise history to post 30 doubles in a season and the first since Harvey Kuenn collected 33 doubles during the 1953 season.

SOMETHING ABOUT ST. PIERRE: When Max St. Pierre makes his major league debut he will become the oldest Tigers position player to make his major league debut since Mike Roarke made his debut behind the plate at Cleveland Stadium against the Indians on April 19, 1961. Roarke was 30 years, 162 days old when he made his debut, while St. Pierre enters play tonight 30 years, 139 days.

SCHERZER ON A STREAK OF SOLID STARTS: Max Scherzer limited the Twins to one run on four hits and struck out nine in nine innings last night at Target Field. It marked the fifth consecutive start in which he has worked at least six innings and allowed one earned run-or-less. The five-start streak is the longest by a Tigers pitcher since Justin Verlander also posted a five-start streak from June 28-July 26, 2006. The last Tigers pitcher with a longer streak of at least six innings and one earned run-or-less was Al Benton with a six start streak from April 19-May 20, 1945.

IT STARTS WITH PITCHING: Tigers starting pitchers have logged a quality start in 11 of the last 12 games, posting a 7-1 record and 1.81 ERA (84.1IP/17ER) during the stretch. Tigers starting pitchers have fanned 67 batters while walking 12 over the 12 games, limiting opponents to a .205 batting average.

RABURN ON A ROLL: Ryan Raburn enters tonight’s game at Minnesota hitting .316 (30x95) with seven doubles, eight home runs and 21 RBI over his last 25 games dating back to August 5. He is tied for second in the American League with eight home runs during that stretch, while he is third with 21 RBI and a .642 slugging percentage.

MIGGY MASHES AGAINST MINNESOTA: Miguel Cabrera has hit safely in 29 of his last 35 games against the Minnesota Twins dating back to September 6, 2008. He is batting .333 (45x135) with 23 runs scored, 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 32 RBI against the Twins during that stretch. He leads all major league players during that time period with the 11 home runs and 32 RBI against the Twins and is tied for fourth with 10 doubles.

MIGGY’S MOUNTAIN OF HOME RUNS ON THE ROAD: Miguel Cabrera leads the American League with 21 home runs on the road this season. The 21 road home runs rank as the third-most by a Tigers player since at least 1952. Cabrera trails Cecil Fielder with 26 road home runs in 1990 and Rocky Colavito with 27 road home runs in 1961.

GETTING AN ASSIST FROM THE OUTFIELD: Austin Jackson recorded an assist last night at Minnesota, marking the club’s 35th outfield assist this season. The Tigers are tops among all American League clubs with 35 outfield assists. The 35 outfield assists are the most by a Tigers team since recording 50 outfield assists during the 2002 season.

SEAY UPDATE: Bobby Seay is scheduled to undergo left shoulder surgery on September 15, a procedure performed by Dr. Craig Morgan in Delaware. Seay has been sidelined since March 26 with a left shoulder strain.

INJURY UPDATE:
• RHP Zach Miner (Partial tear in right elbow, 60-day DL on March 26, Had successful Tommy John surgery May 28, Out for Season),
• LHP Bobby Seay (Torn rotator cuff, 60-day DL on March 26, surgery on September 15, Out for Season),
• OF Magglio Ordonez (right ankle fracture, 15-day DL on July 25, Had surgery surgery Aug. 25, Out for Season),
• INF Danny Worth (bruised left heel, 15-day DL on August 4, Out for Season),
• RHP Joel Zumaya (non-displaced fracture of the olecranon, 60-day DL on June 29, Underwent elbow surgery July 12, Out for Season).
• Carlos Guillen (Bruised left knee, 15-day DL on August 23)


Out for Season
Expected Back


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Up next (Probable Pitchers)


• Friday, September 3,
TIGERS (RHP Jeremy Bonderman (7-9, 5.27 ERA)) AT ROYALS (RHP Zack Greinke (8-11, 3.81 ERA)), 8:10 p.m. ET (FS-D HD / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

• Saturday, September 4,
TIGERS (RHP Rick Porcello (7-11, 5.20 ERA)) AT ROYALS (LHP Bruce Chen (9-7, 4.76 ERA)), 7:10 p.m. ET (FS-D HD / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

• Sunday, September 5,
TIGERS (RHP Armando Galarraga (4-5, 3.98 ERA)) AT ROYALS (RHP Kyle Davies (6-9, 5.23 ERA)), 2:10 p.m. ET (FS-D HD / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

STARTING LINEUP:

Detroit AVG
Jackson, A, CF .303
Rhymes, 2B .314
Damon, DH .268
Cabrera, M, 1B .338
Boesch, RF .270
Peralta, J, 3B .251
Kelly, LF .233
Avila, C .214
Santiago, SS .271
Totals .269

Minnesota AVG
Span, CF .268
Casilla, A, 2B .274
Mauer, C .327
Cuddyer, 1B .273
Young, D, LF .307
Valencia, 3B .332
Morales, J, DH .000
Repko, RF .214
Hardy, SS .256
Totals .278