Detroit Vs. Texas 8-3-11
While you can't tell by his individual win-loss record, Doug Fister has been one of the more effective pitchers in the AL of late.
If he continues to put up the numbers he did with his former team, Fister should have little issue adding to his win total with the Detroit Tigers.
In a battle of first-place teams, Detroit sends Fister to the hill for his Tigers debut against the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
The AL Central-leading Tigers (58-51) made a push to claim their first division title in 24 years by sending three players to Seattle in exchange for reliever David Pauley and Fister (3-12, 3.33 ERA) over the weekend.
"Fister doesn't have a great win-loss record, but that's misleading," president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said.
"He has the worst run support in the majors, and one of the best WHIPs. We definitely think that he makes us a better team, and that is important, because we feel like this is a team that can win something this season."
Fister, who received an average of just 1.97 runs of support with the Mariners, went 0-7 in his last 10 starts despite holding opponents to a .229 average - the 12th lowest mark in the AL since June 4.
Fister, though, has experienced mixed results against Texas (61-49). The right-hander threw eight scoreless innings during a 3-1 loss to the Rangers on May 2, 2010, and limited them to one run over seven frames of a 2-1 win Sept. 19, but has yielded a combined 16 runs in his other three starts versus Texas.
While Josh Hamilton and Elvis Andrus are 1 for 7 and 2 for 15, respectively, lifetime against Fister, David Murphy and Nelson Cruz have hit him well, going a combined 10 for 24 with three homers.
Cruz, who missed the previous two games with tightness in his left quad, went 2 for 5 with a homer in his return to the lineup Tuesday, but recently acquired Mike Adams gave up a tie-breaking home run to Brennan Boesch in the eighth as Texas fell 6-5.
Adams had surrendered just five homers over his last 162 2-3 innings of relief with San Diego.
"I left a changeup up and he hit it out of the park," Adams said following his Rangers debut. "I have the desire to do good and impress these guys. Maybe I was trying to do it too much."
Texas, which leads the Los Angeles Angels by one game in the West, looks to regroup behind the thriving Matt Harrison (9-7, 2.94), who finished July 3-0 with a 2.04 ERA. While opponents hit .271 against the left-hander last month, he walked only three as the Rangers won all five of his starts.
Harrison gave up one run and eight hits in 7 1-3 innings, earning the victory during Thursday's 4-1 win over Minnesota.
"He was tough. He was going in and out," Twins first baseman Michael Cuddyer told MLB.com. "He had a good changeup (Thursday). I only saw one, but it was pretty nasty. He kept guys off-balance. He threw well, and he's done that the whole season if you look at his numbers."
Harrison could be hard-pressed to repeat his impressive results given his poor history against the Tigers. He gave up four runs - three earned - and eight hits in four innings of an 8-1 loss June 7, dropping to 0-3 with a 7.84 ERA over four career starts in this series.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
