Detroit Vs. Oakland 7-19-11
The Detroit Tigers likely didn't put to rest fears of another second-half swoon by once again barely avoiding a sweep at home.
They might have better luck calming their fans' nerves during a two-game series that begins Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics, losers of 23 of 28 on the road.
Detroit was outscored 13-2 by Chicago in the first two games of its weekend series before rallying from a three-run deficit for a 4-3 win Sunday. Carlos Guillen delivered the tiebreaking single in the sixth inning in his second game back after knee surgery.
It was the third straight time the Tigers (50-45) won the finale of a home series after dropping the first two games.
Detroit hasn't posted an above-.500 record after the All-Star break since 2000. Last season, the Tigers were a half-game behind the White Sox in the AL Central heading into the All-Star break, but went 33-43 in the second half and finished 13 games back of Minnesota.
"Let's face it, everybody's been talking about the second half, and I said I'm talking about the positive," manager Jim Leyland told the team's website. "We're not hiding from that. ... The only way you quiet that down is to ... win games."
The Tigers will try to do that by taking advantage of Oakland's struggles on the road. The A's (42-54) are batting an AL-low .222 away from home and .195 during a five-game road losing streak.
Oakland, though, won three of four in its lone trip to Detroit last season from May 28-31, with Rick Porcello (8-6, 4.78 ERA) suffering one of the defeats.
Porcello is 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts against the A's. He allowed one run in six innings of an 8-4, 10-inning win at Oakland on April 15. The teams split that four-game set.
The right-hander will be looking to win his third straight start. In his final outing before the break July 8, he gave up three runs - one earned - over 5 1-3 innings of a 6-4 victory at Kansas City.
The A's opened the second half by taking three of four at home from Los Angeles, capping the series by scoring eight runs in the first inning during a 9-1 win Sunday. Conor Jackson's grand slam was the first since Oct. 1 for Oakland, which has an AL-worst 52 homers.
"It's just fun to see the team have a little life," pitcher Gio Gonzalez said.
Guillermo Moscoso (3-4, 2.16) is expected to be recalled from Triple-A to start Tuesday. The right-hander was sent to the minors before the break to stay sharp and pitched Thursday.
Moscoso will be making his ninth career start and first against the Tigers, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and traded him to Texas in 2008.
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