GDT: 9/14/10 - DET (72-72) AT TEX (80-63) - 8:05 p.m. ET

High-flying Rangers contend with Cabrera

By Tom Singer / MLB.com

By the time the Rangers take the field Tuesday night for the first of three against Detroit, they will be refreshed, recovered and ready to resume pursuit of their first American League West flag since 1999.

When they left Rangers Ballpark late Sunday afternoon, they were just exhausted, physically but especially emotionally. So to call Monday's off-day a welcome break in the schedule would be an understatement.

But after 12 hours, eight minutes and 37 pitchers, Texas had scored three wins and untold emotional points over the Yankees, dropping on them a calling card that could be helpful in October.

After stealing a page from the 2008 Rays, whose confidence was fueled by some notable triumphs over the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Rangers must stay on track against the dangerous Tigers.

Waylaid by key injuries in the middle of the season, Detroit comes in having won seven of its last 11 and turns to Jeremy Bonderman, who will seek his third straight win against left-hander Derek Holland.

To underscore the threat represented by the Tigers, they enlist the Majors' top RBI man in Miguel Cabrera, who has been taken out of Triple Crown talk by Josh Hamilton and Jose Bautista, but may be producing the best overall season.

Cabrera's line shows a .335 average, 34 homers and 116 RBIs. But he trails Hamilton, Texas' injured outfielder, by 26 points in average and is a dozen homers behind breakout slugger Bautista.

Cabrera has done his usual damage against the Rangers and the rest of the AL West. He is batting .367 (40-for-109) in 28 games against the division, with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

The upbeat weekend series had to do wonders to set up the Rangers' mindset for a possible October confrontation with the Yankees. It certainly set a better precedent than what had preceded the teams' three prior postseason meetings.

In three Division Series that constitute the entirety of Texas' postseason history, the Rangers were bounced by the Yankees each time while managing to win only one of the 10 games. In regular-season play leading up to those series in 1996, '98 and '99, the Rangers had gone 14-21 against the Bombers.

Tigers: Productive foursome
Bonderman and Rick Porcello (9-11), slated to start Wednesday, could soon join Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer in giving the Tigers a quartet of starting pitchers with 10-plus wins.

Rangers: Elvis flashing speed
Elvis Andrus stole his 30th base on Sunday, giving him consecutive 30-steal seasons, the first Texas player to do that since Tom Goodwin in 1998-99. The difference is Goodwin was a 32-year-old veteran with 175 steals prior to 1998, while Andrus turned 22 a couple weeks ago.

Worth noting
The series against the Yankees drew 137,396 fans to Rangers Ballpark, the second-highest attendance for a three-game series in Rangers history. ... The Lions and Tigers still have not won on the same day since Sept. 30, 2007, following the Chicago Bears' 19-14 win Sunday over the NFL team.



Pitching matchup

TIGERS: RHP Jeremy Bonderman (8-9, 5.03 ERA)
Just when Bonderman's future seemed in serious question, he had three consecutive solid starts, allowing seven runs on 18 hits over 21 1/3 innings. That included eight innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts against the White Sox.

RANGERS: LHP Derek Holland (3-3, 4.31 ERA)
Holland went six innings in an 8-1 victory over the Blue Jays in his last start and is 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in three games since being called up from Triple-A on Aug. 28. He is 9-15 with a 5.84 ERA in 28 starts over the past two seasons.


RECENT RESULTS: The Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 6-2 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. Justin Verlander (16-8) fanned 11 batters as he limited Baltimore to two runs in eight innings of work to earn the win. Miguel Cabrera connected for a three-run double for the Tigers, while Brandon Inge belted a two-run home run. The Tigers begin a five-game road trip with the first game of a two game series at Texas this evening. Following an off day on Thursday, the club concludes the trip with a three-game series at Chicago beginning on Friday night.

STARTING WELL: Tigers starting pitchers have registered a quality start in 17 of the club’s last 23 games dating back to August 20. During the 23-game stretch, Detroit’s starting pitchers have compiled a 12-2 record and 2.63 ERA (161.0IP/47ER).

OFFENSE ON THE UPTICK: Tigers hitters are batting .289 (256x887) with 137 runs scored, 47 doubles, seven triples and 24 home runs over the club’s last 24 games dating back to August 19. Detroit leads all American League clubs with 137 runs scored, 256 hits and 47 doubles during that stretch, while the club is second with a .289 batting average and tied for fourth with 24 home runs.

MIGGY AT HIS BEST AGAINST THE WEST: Miguel Cabrera enters this evening’s game versus the Rangers batting .356 (153x430) with 81 runs scored, 38 doubles, a triple, 27 home runs and 106 RBI in 112 games against clubs from the American League’s West Division during his career. He is tops among all active major league players with a .356 batting average and .637 slugging percentage versus the American League’s West Division.

CABRERA PILES UP THE HOME RUNS ON THE ROAD: Miguel Cabrera leads the American League with 21 home runs on the road this season. The 21 home runs are third most by a Tigers player on the road since at least 1952, trailing 27 home runs by Rocky Colavito in 1961 and 26 home run by Cecil Fielder in 1990.

ROOKIE HIT PARADE: Tigers rookie hitters collected one hit on Sunday against the Orioles, raising the season total to 449 hits by Tigers rookies. The 449 hits by rookies are the most by Tigers rookies since the rookies on the 1954 club posted 477 hits. Tigers rookies collected 590 hits in 1929 to establish the franchise record. (Source: STATS LLC)

PERALTA PICKING UP THE PRODUCTION: Jhonny Peralta is batting .345 (30x87) with five doubles, three home runs and 21 RBI over his last 23 games dating back to August 19. He is second among all American League players with 21 RBI during the stretch, while he is fifth with a .345 batting average.

RABURN ON A ROLL: Ryan Raburn enters tonight’s game versus the Rangers hitting .351 (46x131) with 11 doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBI over his last 35 games dating back to August 5. He is tied for the lead among all American League players with 21 extra-base hits during the stretch, while he is second with a .664 slugging percentage, tied for second with 11 doubles, is third with 27 RBI, tied for third with 46 hits and 10 home runs and is fourth with a .351 batting average.

PLATING THE GAME WINNER: Miguel Cabrera’s three-run double in the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon rallied the Tigers from a 2-1 deficit to Baltimore in a game the club ultimately won 6-2. It marked Cabrera’s 14th game-winning RBI this season, tying him for second-most among all American League players.

VERLANDER WINS OVER ORIOLES...AGAIN: Justin Verlander earned the win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon to improve his career mark against the club to 5-0. His five straight wins over the Orioles to begin his career matches the longest such winning streak over the Orioles (since the Browns relocated to Baltimore in 1954) by a Tigers pitcher. Paul Foytack (1956-57) and Aurelio Lopez (1979-85) both posted five-game winning streaks against the Orioles to begin their respective careers. (Source: Elias Sports Bureau)

CABRERA APPROACHES AL RECORD FOR INTENTIONAL WALKS: Miguel Cabrera enters tonight’s game versus Texas with 30 intentional walks to lead the American League. With four more intentional walks, Cabrera would match Ted Williams’ American League record of 34 intentional walks during the 1957 season.

JACKSON PILING UP THE RUNS: Austin Jackson has scored 25 runs over his last 23 games dating back to August 20 and he leads all American League rookies with 94 runs scored this season. His 94 runs scored mark the most by a Tigers rookie since Jake Wood scored 96 runs during the 1961 season. With six more runs scored, Jackson will become just the sixth rookie in Tigers history to score at least 100 runs and the first since BarneyMcCosky scored 120 runs in 1939.

INGE NOMINATED FOR MARVIN MILLER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD: Brandon Inge is one of six major league players nominated by the fans for this season’s Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. The winner will be selected during the 2010 Players Choice Award balloting conducted by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

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)


Out for Season



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Up next (Probable Pitchers)


• Wednesday, September 15,
TIGERS (RHP Rick Porcello (9-11, 5.10 ERA)) AT RANGERS (RHP Colby Lewis (10-12, 3.86 ERA)), 8:05 p.m. ET (FS-D HD / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

• Thursday, September 16,
OFF DAY

• Friday, September 17,
TIGERS (RHP Max Scherzer (10-10, 3.60 ERA)) AT WHITE SOX (RHP Edwin Jackson (3-1, 2.94 ERA)), 8:10 p.m. ET (FS-D HD / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

• Saturday, September 18,
TIGERS (RHP Justin Verlander (16-8, 3.48 ERA)) AT WHITE SOX (RHP ??? (??? ERA)), 4:10 p.m. ET (FOX / AM 1270 & 97.1 FM)

STARTING LINEUPS:

Detroit AVG
Jackson, A, CF .305
Sizemore, 2B .205
Raburn, LF .271
Cabrera, M, 1B .335
Peralta, J, DH .254
Inge, 3B .254
Wells, C, RF .308
Laird, C .205
Santiago, SS .261
Totals .270

Texas AVG
Andrus, SS .273
Young, M, 3B .286
Murphy, Dv, LF .283
Guerrero, DH .305
Cruz, N, RF .314
Kinsler, 2B .294
Moreland, 1B .255
Treanor, C .220
Borbon, CF .273
Totals .276