Verlander Takes Mound Vs. Royals
DETROIT - With Justin Verlander pitching Sunday, the National League won't have to face him Tuesday at the All-Star Game in Phoenix. The Kansas City Royals aren't as fortunate.
Trying to rebound from his first defeat since April, Verlander looks to continue his mastery of the Royals in the series finale at Kauffman Stadium.
Verlander (11-4, 2.26 ERA), named an All-Star for the fourth time, won't be allowed to compete Tuesday due to a MLB rule that makes starters who pitch Sunday before the Midsummer Classic ineligible.
The Tigers ace delivered another All-Star-caliber performance in his last outing, striking out eight and throwing 7 2-3 innings of one-run ball, but was handed his first loss since April 27.
"The good side is, you pitched pretty well," Verlander said following Tuesday's 1-0 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels. "The bad side is, you lost."
The right-hander hasn't done much of that against Kansas City, going 11-2 with a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts. Verlander fanned seven and yielded one run in eight innings of a 3-1 home win over the Royals on May 13.
Scheduled to start the Tigers' first game following the break on Friday against the Chicago White Sox, Verlander will try to help Detroit (48-43) end the first half strong after Saturday's 13-6 loss prevented the club from overtaking Cleveland for the AL Central lead.
The Tigers had won three in a row overall and four straight over AL-worst Kansas City (37-53).
"It's frustrating. But big picture, we've got a chance to win the series tomorrow," said Brennan Boesch, who finished with three hits and two RBIs.
The Royals, meanwhile, will try to build off Saturday's 12-hit attack that gave them their most runs at home since a 15-7 win over Houston on June 15, 2010.
"The top four guys in our lineup today produced a lot of offense," manager Ned Yost said. "We had eight or nine hits, a bunch of RBIs - the majority of the RBIs. Billy (Butler) swung the bat really, really well tonight, as did Melky (Cabrera), and (Alex Gordon) Gordo with the big three-run homer was key."
Cabrera is hitting .486 (17 for 35) during an eight-game hitting streak, and Gordon is 12 for 33 while hitting safely in all eight games against Detroit in 2011.
Jeff Francis (3-9, 4.69) would appreciate if those streaks continued as he goes for his first win in five starts.
The veteran left-hander, who did not earn a decision in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox after giving up two runs in six innings, gets his second look at the Tigers this season. He went eight innings in a 3-0 loss at Detroit on May 14, yielding three runs and seven hits.
Francis could see the Tigers' regular lineup in the finale after manager Jim Leyland sat All-Star shortstop Jhonny Peralta, Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez on Saturday.
Yost is expected to get Mike Moustakas in the game after sitting the slumping rookie third baseman Saturday. Moustakas will try to snap his 0-for-21 skid in his first matchup against Verlander.
Butler's .394 batting average (13 for 33) off the Tigers right-hander is the highest among all players Verlander has faced at least 33 times.
All-Star first baseman Miguel Cabrera, 2 for 11 in the series, has two hits in 10 at-bats versus Francis.
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