Cleveland Vs. Detroit
A weekend in Cleveland might not be the ideal place for the Detroit Tigers to end their current struggles.
Max Scherzer looks to continue his strong start Friday night while trying to help the Tigers avoid a fourth straight loss overall and snap an eight-game road skid against the AL Central-leading Indians, winners of 10 straight at Progressive Field.
Detroit (12-13) opened a six-game homestand by outscoring the White Sox 21-3 in a three-game sweep. However, the Tigers were then outscored 24-6 while being swept by Seattle.
Now, the Tigers head to Cleveland where they have been outscored 42-18 their last eight games there. Detroit went 8-1 at home against the Indians in 2010, but 1-8 on the road against its division rivals.
The Indians (16-8), meanwhile, will try to set a club record for April victories with an 11th straight home win after beating Kansas City 8-2 on Thursday.
"I see a lot of confidence," second baseman Orlando Cabrera said. "We're playing really good baseball."
If Detroit is to end its drought in Cleveland, it must get more production from the top of their order. Leadoff batter Austin Jackson is batting .167 and No. 3 hitter Magglio Ordonez just .172. That pair, along with slugger Miguel Cabrera, combined to go 0 for 12 in Thursday's 7-2 loss to Seattle.
"We haven't done much at the top of the order, and we need to do something about that," manager Jim Leyland said.
Cabrera is the only one of the three producing as he's batting .318 with five homers and 16 RBIs for the Tigers. He's a lifetime .323 hitter with 15 homers and 47 RBIs versus Cleveland.
Jackson, however, is batting .440 during an 11-game hitting streak against the Indians, and Ordonez is hitting .356 over his last 13 games in Cleveland.
Scherzer (4-0, 3.19 ERA), who is 1-3 with a 5.73 ERA versus Cleveland, has a chance to become the third five-game winner in the majors. The right-hander allowed four hits and struck out seven in eight innings of a 3-0 win over the White Sox on Sunday.
"You have to go out there with the mentality that you're going to have to be on the attack," Scherzer said.
He'll likely need to keep doing that against the Indians, who are in the midst of their longest home winning streak since a 13-game run April 6-May 17, 1996.
Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo each hit their fourth homers Thursday for Cleveland, which has hit 22 of its 29 home runs this season at home.
Sizemore is batting .390 in 10 games since his return from knee surgery, while Choo is 8 for 18 with two homers and five RBIs over the last five. Choo is 5 for 9 with a home run against Scherzer.
Travis Hafner is 6 for 10 with a homer versus Scherzer, but could miss his second straight game because of right ankle inflammation. He's hitting .342 with four homers and 11 RBIs.
Jeanmar Gomez (0-1, 7.36) takes the ball for the Indians after making an emergency appearance in relief of injured starter Carlos Carrasco on Sunday. Gomez allowed a run and three hits in three innings of the 4-3 loss at Minnesota.
The right-hander, who began the season in the minors, allowed five runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 5-4 loss at Kansas City in his first start April 19.
Gomez went 1-1 with a 4.50 against the Tigers last season as a rookie.
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