• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Indians-Tigers Preview

Sep 3, 2009 - 4:21 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Cleveland (58-73) at Detroit (70-61), 1:05 p.m. EDT

Detroit manager Jim Leyland was encouraged enough by Nate Robertson's first start of the season that he's decided to give him a second.

The left-hander looks for another positive outing since returning from an elbow injury while trying to help the Tigers complete a home sweep of the Cleveland Indians on Thursday.

Making his first appearance after surgery to remove tissue masses from his elbow kept him out since June 26, Robertson (1-1, 6.84 ERA) allowed two runs and struck out four while throwing 70 pitches in four innings, but took the loss in a 3-1 defeat to Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Robertson, who's not had a winning season as a starter since going 12-10 in 2004, could end up returning to the bullpen where he made all 22 appearances before the injury. Leyland has opted to give him another start while Armando Galarraga recovers from inflammation in his right elbow.

"I hope he can throw 80-85," Leyland told the Tigers' official Web site of Robertson, "but that will depend on the results."

Robertson is 2-5 with a 5.36 ERA in 16 starts against the last-place Indians (58-74), whose season-high five errors helped the Tigers to a 4-2 win Wednesday. The Indians' error total is their most in a game since 1998.

Magglio Ordonez had three hits with an RBI and Placido Polanco drove in two runs as Detroit (71-61) improved to 10-4 against Cleveland this season.

The Tigers, who have a 4 1/2-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central, swept a three-game set at Cleveland from May 8-10.

"It's starting to feel more and more like we are in the driver's seat," Detroit catcher Gerald Laird said. "It's September and everyone is talking about the teams chasing us, not the other way around."

Polanco and Ordonez continue to help the Tigers maintain their spot atop the division. Ordonez is 6 for 12 in his last four games, while Polanco is hitting the same over his last three contests.

Ordonez is batting .400 against the Indians this season, but .261 with a home run against Cleveland's scheduled starter Fausto Carmona (3-9, 6.20).

Carmona is 6-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts against the Tigers and 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in two this season.

The right-hander looks to bounce back, however, after allowing six runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings to take the loss in a 13-4 defeat at Baltimore on Friday.

"I think he's still a work in progress," Indians manager Eric Wedge said of Carmona, who's 1-3 in six starts since returning from a stint in the minors. "That's why we're going to keep sending him out there every fifth day."

Travis Hafner hit his 14th homer and Shin-Soo Choo added two hits Wednesday for the Indians, who've lost three in a row and are 4-5 on a 10-game road trip.

Choo is batting .405 on the trip and .348 in his last five games against Detroit.