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Indians-Tigers Preview

Jul 10, 2009 - 1:25 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Cleveland (33-52) at Detroit (46-38), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers hope not to overlook a lowly opponent before heading into the All-Star break. Facing the division rival Cleveland Indians might help them avoid a letdown.

The Tigers will attempt to make it six straight wins over the last-place Indians on Friday night when the teams open a three-game set at Comerica Park.

Detroit (46-38) is coming off Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Kansas City after winning 8-5 the previous day to end a three-game slide.

The Tigers are atop the Central with a 2 1/2-game lead on the Chicago White Sox. However, manager Jim Leyland is wary of his team looking ahead to next week's four-day break for the All-Star game.

"When you grind like this," Leyland told the team's official Web site, "you look so forward to the break that you have to make sure you don't get to the break before you get there. The mental toughness in this game is a lot more important than people think. There's a mental toughness that goes with surviving this stuff."

The Tigers have won five in a row against the Indians (34-52) following an eight-game losing streak in the series. They completed a three-game sweep at Cleveland from May 8-10, outscoring the Indians 10-3.

Adam Everett is batting .467 (7 for 15) with a home run and a team-best seven RBIs against Cleveland this season while Curtis Granderson is 8 for 23 (.348) with a homer and five RBIs.

Edwin Jackson (6-4, 2.59 ERA) helped Detroit to that sweep in May, limiting Cleveland to five hits while striking out seven in seven innings of a 4-0 win May 9. He's won his last two starts against the Indians, posting a 2.13 ERA.

Jackson, though, hasn't won since beating the Los Angeles Angels on June 6, going 0-1 with a 3.73 ERA in five starts since.

The right-hander didn't factor in the decision in his last outing on Saturday. He allowed three runs and six hits, including two homers, with nine strikeouts on 122 pitches in 6 1-3 innings of a 4-3 loss at Minnesota.

"It was one of those games where you have to go out there and gut when you don't really have your best stuff," said Jackson, second in the AL in ERA to Kansas City's Zack Greinke (2.12).

The AL-worst Indians have lost 16 of their last 21 games. One of those five victories came with Thursday's 10-8 win over the White Sox, as Kelly Shoppach had a career-high five RBIs, including a grand slam, to help them avoid being swept in the three-game series.

Cliff Lee (4-8, 3.45) hopes for better run support when he takes the mound for Cleveland.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is 0-2 with a 2.40 ERA in two starts against Detroit this season, getting just one total run of support. He watched Cleveland's bats produce just two hits in a 1-0 loss on May 8, as he limited the Tigers to one run and seven hits in eight innings.

Lee hasn't been very effective over his last four starts, going 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA since beating St. Louis 3-0 on June 14.

He lost his second consecutive outing Sunday, laboring through 112 pitches over six innings while giving up three runs and eight hits with four walks in a 5-2 defeat to Oakland.