Max Scherzer dominated the Minnesota Twins last season. The Detroit Tigers right-hander has been on a roll of late as well.
Scherzer takes the mound Saturday afternoon when Detroit continues its three- game series against Minnesota at Comerica Park.
In 2013, Scherzer won all three of his starts versus the Twins to go with a 1.77 ERA. He's won his last four starts overall, having given up just three runs over 27 innings for a 1.00 ERA. In fact, Scherzer brings a 14-inning scoreless streak over his last two games into today. He blanked the Astros over eight frames on Sunday and on April 30 shut out the White Sox over six innings.
Over his career, Scherzer is 6-2 with a 4.42 ERA in 12 games versus the Twins.
With an 0-2 mark over his last three starts, Minnesota's Kyle Gibson is headed in the opposite direction of Scherzer. Gibson gave up just two hits over seven innings on Monday in Cleveland, but the Twins lost, 1-0 in 10 innings. This will be his first career start against Detroit. He's made six career starts against AL Central opponents, going 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA.
Last night, Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single off Justin Verlander in the seventh inning to push Twins past the Detroit Tigers 2-1.
Phil Hughes (4-1) threw seven shutout innings to extend his winning streak to four straight starts, including two against Detroit. The right-hander struck out three and gave up eight hits without a walk.
"We battled," said Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. "Kirk Suzuki came up with a huge hit, but going up against a good lineup, what Phil did was more impressive than anything."
Verlander (4-2) lost to the Twins for the first time in more than four years, snapping a nine-decision winning streak spanning 12 starts. He allowed seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 114 pitches.
"It's tough to hold a team to zeroes forever. He did more than give us a chance to win," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "Until the last inning it didn't seem like we were able to string a few hits together."
The Tigers split a two-game set with the Twins earlier this season, but won 11 of the 19 matchups a year ago.
[SportsNetwork.com]
