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Tigers-Yankees Preview

Jul 18, 2009 - 5:20 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Detroit (48-39) at New York (51-37), 1:05 p.m. EDT

When Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia square off, the Detroit Tigers starter usually outpitches his opposite number.

They'll meet for the second time this season Saturday when Sabathia and the New York Yankees continue their weekend home series against Verlander and the Tigers.

The starters met four times when Sabathia (8-6, 3.86 ERA) was with Cleveland, and were also on the hill April 27 at Comerica Park. In that outing, Verlander (10-4, 3.38 ERA) earned his first win of the year by striking out nine over seven scoreless innings in a 4-2 win while Sabathia pitched a six-hitter.

"That's by far the best I've seen him throw," Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira said about Verlander. "He was throwing 95 (mph) to 99 all night, and you just don't see many starters with that kind of velocity."

Verlander has usually gotten the better of Sabathia, going 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA in those five outings. Sabathia is 2-3 with a 6.21 ERA versus Verlander.

The Tigers right-hander is 3-1 with a 4.85 ERA against the Yankees in five starts. Verlander has dominated New York's Nick Swisher, who is 6 for 35 (.171) with three homers and 13 strikeouts against him. Teixeira is 1 for 10 versus the Detroit starter.

Verlander has 19 strikeouts in consecutive victories, recording eight over seven scoreless innings Sunday in a 10-1 win over Cleveland. He's one victory shy of his total from last season.

Sabathia has alternated wins and losses in his last four outings, and is 0-3 with a 5.67 ERA in seven day starts. He yielded five runs over 6 2-3 innings Sunday in a 5-4 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

The left-hander is 3-6 with a 5.16 ERA in his last 10 starts against the Tigers (48-40). Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco is 10 for 30 (.333) with five doubles versus Sabathia in that span while Magglio Ordonez is 8 for 28 (.286) with eight RBIs.

Teixeira was the hero Friday for New York (52-37) with a go-ahead three-run homer off Joel Zumaya in the seventh inning of a 5-3 victory. The first baseman had three hits while Johnny Damon scored three runs and added two hits as the Yankees ended a three-game skid.

"There's a huge room for improvement," Teixeira said. "It's not like we went out there and played flawless baseball."

Zumaya said he felt a "slight little pop" in his pitching shoulder on his fourth-to-last pitch, fouled off by Swisher.

"They just did X-rays," Zumaya said. "I'm leaving for Detroit tomorrow, and I'm going to get an MRI. I don't even know how I threw the last three pitches. I just tried to throw them down the middle. I was in some serious pain. I couldn't even lift my arm."

All-Star leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson homered and had two hits for Detroit, which had won four of five entering this series. The Tigers wasted opportunities all night, going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

"We couldn't get that extra hit. That hurt," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.