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Red Sox-Tigers Preview

May 16, 2010 - 5:29 AM By MATT BROWN STATS Editor

Boston (19-17) at Detroit (20-16), 1:05 p.m. EDT

As the Detroit Tigers have already shown this weekend, a game with the Boston Red Sox truly is not over until the final out.

In Sunday's series finale, the host Tigers seek to parlay the momentum from a comeback victory into their first consecutive wins over Boston in nearly three years.

Boston (19-18) suffered a three-game sweep at Detroit (21-16) from July 6-8, 2007, but had dominated since, winning 12 of 15 against the Tigers culminating with a 7-2 victory in Friday's series opener.

The Red Sox appeared on their way to another easy win Saturday, but Detroit plated three in the sixth inning, and two more in the eighth to erase a 6-1 deficit. The Tigers won 7-6 in 12 innings as Ramon Santiago drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Ramon Ramirez.

"It's always great to get a win like that, but especially against a very competitive team like Boston," said Brandon Inge, who was given a walk by Ramirez two batters earlier to load the bases. "Coming back against them is a very good sign."

It was the latest remarkable comeback for a team that's becoming accustomed to them. The Tigers have won a major league-high five games this season after trailing by at least four runs. The Red Sox have pulled off four such rallies of their own, while no other team in baseball has done it more than once.

"There's no way we should have lost that game," said Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who had a career-high five walks. "The good thing is that we've got another game in 13 hours, so we won't have time to dwell on it."

Boston has to like its chances to secure a fifth consecutive series win over Detroit with John Lackey (4-1, 4.60 ERA) on the mound. Lackey is 6-1 with a 3.73 career ERA versus the Tigers, including a 4-0 record and 3.46 ERA in four starts at Comerica Park.

Lackey also earned a win in his last outing despite a lackluster performance. The right-hander yielded six runs, eight hits and three walks over six innings Monday, but got credit for a 7-6 victory over Toronto. He'd lasted seven innings and given up three runs or fewer in each of his previous three starts.

Lackey will be opposed by Armando Galarraga, whom the Tigers have summoned from Triple-A Toledo to make his major league season debut. Galarraga's future appeared bright after he went 13-7 with a 3.73 ERA as a rookie in 2008, but he opened this season in the minors after going 6-10 with a 5.64 ERA in 2009.

Originally tabbed for this start by necessity after the Tigers played a doubleheader against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, Galarraga now appears to have a chance to reclaim a permanent role in the rotation. He's taking the spot of underachieving Max Scherzer, whom Detroit sent to the minors after Saturday's game.

Galarraga, who was 4-2 with a 3.92 ERA in seven starts for Toledo, is 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA in two starts against Boston.

Saturday's loss overshadowed another strong effort from resurgent Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who went 3 for 6 with two RBIs after hitting two home runs Friday. Ortiz has a hit in seven straight games, and is batting .359 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 10 games in May after an April in which he hit .143 with one home run and four RBIs in 16 games, and appeared in jeopardy of losing his job.