Struggling Tigers turn to Porcello against Yankees
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Rick Porcello will take the mound tonight for the struggling Detroit Tigers as they attempt to come out victorious in the second stage of their three-game series with the New York Yankees at Comerica Park.
Casey Crosby (0-1) only lasted 3 1/3 innings for the Tigers in his MLB debut in the team's 9-4 loss in the series opener on Friday.
"When you bring somebody up, you're prepared for anything as a manager," Detroit skipper Jim Leyland said. "And I was prepared for exactly what happened tonight. I was also prepared for if he gets on a roll and gets some confidence going, he might shut them down pretty good. That's just the way it happened."
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Leyland will need to be prepared for anything tonight with the inconsistent Porcello on the hill. The right-hander won two straight starts at the beginning of May with solid outings versus the White Sox and Athletics. However, he has gone 0-2 in his last four starts with an ERA of 5.75 over that span.
Porcello is 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA in four career regular-season starts versus New York. Detroit is in third place in the American League Central Division and trailing the first-place White Sox by six games.
The Tigers' twin rookie outfielders did their best on Friday in the series opener. Quintin Berry went 3-of-5 for the second game in a row and was a home run short of hitting for the cycle in the loss. Delmon Young also had three hits in four at-bats. Prince Fielder extended his hitting streak to nine games and drove in a run and Ramon Santiago belted his first home run of the season.
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Detroit, which began its six-game homestand on Friday, will need to get more out of Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch, who went a combined 1-for-9 and left a total of 11 runners on base. Cabrera has hit safely in 32-of-34 games against the Yankees.
Former Tiger Curtis Granderson hit a game-changing grand slam in the second inning to push the Yankees to their second straight win. The center fielder has gone yard three times in four games to give him a team-leading 17 homers and 33 RBI.
"He's been really important for us. He's been a great player," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about Granderson.
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The Yankees' offense was not solely reliant on Granderson. Alex Rodriguez struck out three times but hit a deep home run to left-center in the ninth inning. Derek Jeter comes in with a six-game hitting streak after going 2- for-4 with an RBI and walk on Friday.
New York's impressive offensive display was matched by its ace CC Sabathia (7-2). Sabathia surrendered three earned runs and struck out five during his seven innings of action.
New York is 1 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading Rays, who face off with the second-place Orioles on Saturday. The Yankees are 5-2 on their current nine-game road trip.
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Girardi will send out Hiroki Kuroda (4-6) to follow up Sabathia tonight. Kuroda last faced Detroit in 2010 as a member of the Dodgers, a game the Tigers won with Porcello on the mound.
Kuroda held Oakland scoreless for eight innings on Sunday to lower his ERA to 3.96. The victory gave the Japanese right-hander his first road victory of the season.
The Yankees are 3-1 versus Detroit this season.