DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers (31-23) are hoping to bounce back from a tough loss on Wednesday after the bullpen surrendered five runs in the top of the ninth on Tuesday to hand the team its third straight loss.
Anibal Sanchez shut down the Toronto Blue Jays (35-24) through seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Rick Porcello will try to mirror that success on Wednesday, as Detroit attempts to snap another losing streak.
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TV: 7:08 p.m. ET, RSN, TVA (Toronto), FSN (Detroit)
Porcello is coming off of an unconventional start in which he walked six batters but picked up his eighth win of the season. The Blue Jays will be a challenge for the 25-year-old, as they hit a combined .447 off of him. In fact, the only player with more than 10 at-bats against Porcello that owns an average lower than .400 is Adam Lind, who hits .167 in 12 tries.
Toronto will send out former Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, who posted a 3.55 ERA in May, but surrendered five earned runs in his last appearance.
Since winning the Cy Young and joining the Blue Jays the knuckleballer has been a very different pitcher. Last season his ERA increased by 1.48 and it's even higher this season as the calendar turns to June. Detroit will try to keep the pressure on the 39-year-old Wednesday and even up this three-game series.
The Tigers have hit four home runs off of Dickey in his career, and own an impressive .351 batting average against him. Torii Hunter leads the pack with a .400 average (6/15), five RBI and five extra-base hits against him.
The two teams will finish up this series on Thursday afternoon before the Tigers welcome the Boston Red Sox to town.