Twins 2 - 4 Tigers
Final
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Scherzer eyes 18th victory in clash with Twins

Sep 25, 2014 - 2:52 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Max Scherzer goes after his 18th win of the season and tries to get the Detroit Tigers one step closer to an American League Central title on Thursday when they open a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park.

Scherzer was terrific on Saturday in Kansas City, as he held the Royals to a run and seven hits in seven innings to run his record to 17-5, while lowering his ERA to 3.19. He also struck out six batters and is third in the AL with 243 on the year.

He's beaten Minnesota twice this season and is 8-2 lifetime against them with a 4.53 ERA in 15 starts.

Playoff-bound Detroit trimmed its magic number for clinching the division to three on Wednesday, as Ian Kinsler collected two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Justin Verlander tossed eight strong innings in the Tigers' 6-1 triumph over Chicago.

Miguel Cabrera, Nick Castellanos, Andrew Romine and Rajai Davis finished with an RBI each for the Tigers, who gained a postseason berth with a Seattle Mariners loss and moved two games in front of second-place Kansas City after the Royals lost in Cleveland.

"We should be way better than where we're at right now," Victor Martinez admitted. "I've been around in the game for a little bit and that just shows you how baseball can be. That's why you don't take anything for granted."

J.D. Martinez added three hits and a run scored.

Verlander (15-12) gave up a run on seven hits with six strikeouts, then Joakim Soria tossed a perfect ninth to lock up the matinee and series victory.

Minnesota, meanwhile, comes into tonight's tilt having won two straight following a series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Twins have now won five of their last eight.

Minnesota will hand the ball to righty Trevor May, who was banged around by Cleveland his last time out. May had a three-start winning streak stopped in that one, as he was rocked for seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings to fall to 3-5 on the year to go along with an 8.39 ERA.

"The biggest thing was just putting guys away," said May. "I think all the runs scored with two outs. There were three instances where I was one pitch away from getting out of an inning unscathed. And I was 0-for-3 on those pitches."

May was defeated by the Tigers back on Aug. 23 and surrendered five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Minnesota leads the season series, 8-7, including a 3-3 mark at Comerica.






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