Detroit Vs. Cleveland 6-16-11
Thanks to a rare home loss to the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers' chance to sit alone atop the AL Central was brief.
The Tigers might get another opportunity if Max Scherzer can continue to put his recent struggles behind him in Thursday's series finale against the Indians.
Detroit (37-31) pushed Cleveland out of first for the first time since April 6 on Tuesday with its 12th win in 16 games and 16th in 18 matchups at Comerica Park.
After losing 15 of 20, Cleveland responded Wednesday by rallying for a 6-4 victory to snap a six-game skid in Detroit and regain a share of first. Trailing 3-0, the Indians scored four runs in the fourth inning and Orlando Cabrera hit the go-ahead double in the fifth.
Cabrera had three hits after batting .153 in his previous 22 games. The Indians (36-30) had 13 hits after batting .216 over their previous 20.
"It's going to be a really, really interesting season," Cabrera said. "It's going to be fun. It's going to be a battle. Hopefully, we'll have more games like this."
Repeating that performance might prove difficult if Scherzer (8-2, 4.39 ERA) can duplicate his last outing. The right-hander gave up one run and four hits over seven innings Saturday in an 8-1 win over Seattle after posting a 12.51 ERA over his three previous starts.
"I really just executed better pitches," he said. "I was able to keep my slider down in the zone, my fastball down in the zone and a couple balls they hit hard found gloves."
Before that rough patch, Scherzer was off to the best start in his career, 6-0 with a 2.81 ERA, and has a chance to earn a share of the major league wins lead in this outing. To claim that, he might need a better start against the Indians, who are one percentage point ahead of the Tigers.
Scherzer is 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA in five career matchups. He gave up five runs over 6 2-3 innings April 29 but did not get a decision in a 9-5 loss.
While Scherzer will try for a third straight win, the Indians' Mitch Talbot (2-3, 4.01) will attempt to avoid losing three consecutive starts for the first time in his career.
Talbot's drought is due in large part to the zero runs he's received from his teammates. The right-hander has a 2.45 ERA over his last three starts and has yielded two runs in each of his past two defeats.
He also gave up four hits in Saturday's 4-0 defeat to the New York Yankees before being ejected in the sixth inning for hitting Alex Rodriguez with a fastball. Talbot contended that his foot slipped while making the pitch.
"The kid was throwing good and I really wanted to see him continue to pitch the way he was pitching," manager Manny Acta told the team's website.
Talbot is seeking his third straight win over the Tigers and posted a 0.75 ERA in his final two matchups last season.
Despite its struggles in Detroit, Cleveland has won seven of eight overall against the Tigers.
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