Detroit Vs. Toronto 6-27-11
Detroit's Max Scherzer owes a lot of his success this year to offensive support from his teammates.
He's certainly needed the help recently.
Scherzer looks to become the second Tigers pitcher to reach 10 wins when he faces the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night in a makeup of a game postponed from May.
Scherzer (9-3, 4.61 ERA) is second on Detroit (42-36) in wins, but while ace Justin Verlander has a stellar 2.38 ERA, Scherzer has the second-highest ERA in the team's rotation and the highest in the majors of any pitcher with at least eight wins.
The right-hander had a personal three-game winning streak snapped after allowing six runs and nine hits over six innings of a 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
It was a rare lack of offensive support for Scherzer, who had received 29 runs from his teammates over his previous four starts. That production has been necessary with Scherzer posting a 7.79 ERA in his past six outings.
A matchup with Toronto (39-39) could help him regain his form. Scherzer is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays, allowing two earned runs over 12 innings in two meetings this season.
Detroit scored seven runs with two outs in the eighth inning Sunday against Arizona and rallied for an 8-3 victory, its third in four games.
Miguel Cabrera started the uprising with a two-run single and Jhonny Peralta finished with three hits, including a homer, and two RBIs.
"Miguel had a big two-out hit, that's golden," manager Jim Leyland said. "That's what he's good at. The other guys kind of picked up on it and we added some insurance and had a good win after what looked like it could be a potentially tough day."
The Tigers have scored 27 runs in their last four games and are averaging 5.1 runs in June. The main catalyst during that surge has been Cabrera, batting .469 with six RBIs and seven runs in the last 10 contests.
Cabrera is a lifetime .322 hitter against the Blue Jays, but is 1 for 15 with six walks against them this season.
Detroit has won three of five in 2011 versus Toronto, losing the lone home game May 16.
The Blue Jays conclude their 10-game road trip after completing a three-game sweep of St. Louis with a 5-0 victory Sunday behind Ricky Romero's four-hitter.
Toronto scored 16 runs during the sweep after totaling three in the previous four games - all losses.
Rookie Zach Stewart (0-1, 5.91) will try to pitch the Blue Jays to their fourth straight win in his third start.
After pitching two-hit ball over seven innings in an excellent major league debut June 16 against Baltimore, the right-hander was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings Tuesday in a 5-1 loss at Atlanta.
This game could see the season debut of Jays slugger Jose Bautista at third base, according to manager John Farrell. Bautista is hitting .441 with four homers and five doubles in his last nine games against the Tigers.
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.
