Verlander On The Mound Vs. Twins
When the Detroit Tigers need their ace the most, Justin Verlander continues to deliver.
He's usually come through against the Minnesota Twins.
The right-hander looks to win his fourth straight start while trying to help the AL Central-leading Tigers avoid a fourth consecutive loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday at Target Field.
Omar Infante hit a two-run homer and Miguel Cabrera added two hits for Detroit (84-73), but Minnesota's Ryan Doumit had four RBIs to help the Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Tigers on Friday. The loss leaves the Tigers one game ahead of second-place Chicago in the division.
"Nothing comes easy for us, it seems like," catcher Gerald Laird said. "We knew the White Sox weren't going to go away."
Minnesota (66-91) continues to do its best to spoil Detroit's postseason chances. The Twins swept a doubleheader Sunday at Comerica Park and improved to 8-8 against the Tigers this year with Friday's win.
"Unfortunately for us watching the scoreboard won't help us," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We can go out there and be a part of one with the other team."
The Twins, however, should expect a difficult challenge against Verlander (16-8, 2.72 ERA), who has given up two runs and struck out 19 over 21 innings to win his last three starts during this stretch run. He allowed those runs and fanned eight in eight innings of a 6-2 win over Kansas City on Monday.
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