Tigers hope to secure series win against Twins

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Tigers try to secure a series victory on Wednesday night when they resume a three-game set with the Minnesota Twins.

Detroit had dropped two of three to both the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals ahead of last night's opener, which came on the heels of a 2-1 loss to the Royals in 10 innings on Sunday. The Tigers then turned the tables, winning 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday against the Twins.

Ian Kinsler plated the winning run with a single, scoring Anthony Gose after he connected on a one-out double to get in scoring position.

"I think everyone in here felt like we should have won Sunday," Kinsler said. "Coming in here after a day off to get a win, it's a good feeling."

Detroit starter Alfredo Simon gave up one run on six hits while striking out six over 7 2/3 innings. He kept the Twins off the board until the eighth inning, when Danny Santana led off with a triple and later scored on Torii Hunter's sacrifice fly.

"Simon was tough, but we had some opportunities against him and we just didn't get the kind of at-bats that we've had with runners in scoring position lately," Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

Kyle Gibson got the start for Minnesota and allowed one run -- a fourth-inning homer to J.D. Martinez -- on five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings.

The Twins have lost two in a row following a four-game winning streak.

Left-hander Kyle Lobstein looks to win a second straight start tonight for the Tigers.

Lobstein is coming off his longest outing of the season as he logged 7 2/3 innings in a 4-1 victory at the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. He was charged with only one unearned run on five hits and two walks, moving to 3-2 with a 3.00 earned run average through five outings.

"He was outstanding," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Lobstein, who threw 64 of his 100 pitches for strikes. "He located and mixed speeds. He had as good an outing as I've seen from him."

The 25-year-old has yet to allow a home run in 33 innings this season and is 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA in two games (1 start) lifetime against the Twins.

Ricky Nolasco will make his fourth start of the season tonight for the Twins and third since returning from an elbow injury.

Though Nolasco has won both of his outings since coming off the disabled list, he hasn't looked overly impressive in either. In meetings with the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics, he has turned in a pair of five-inning outings while allowing a combined seven runs and 14 hits, though with just two walks.

He gave up four runs on six hits in a 6-5 win over the A's on Thursday.

"A little bit of a struggle today. Sometimes you just figure out a way to just keep your team there. The boys picked it up today," Nolasco said.

The right-hander is 2-1 with a 9.00 ERA on the season and has split a pair of decisions over four career starts against the Tigers while pitching to a 4.43 ERA.

This is the third series of the season between these two teams, and the Tigers have won six of the seven games so far.