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Tigers-Athletics Preview

May 19, 2010 - 6:57 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Detroit (22-16) at Oakland (19-20), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Justin Verlander has found his form after a rocky start to 2010, and the Detroit Tigers' ace will look to win his fourth straight outing when he takes the mound in Oakland on Wednesday night.

The last time Dallas Braden pitched there, he was perfect.

The Athletics' emerging left-hander returns home for the first time since pitching the 19th perfect game in major league history to form an intriguing matchup with Verlander in the opener of a two-game set.

After going 1-2 with a 5.53 ERA in April, Verlander is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA this month, holding opponents to a .151 average in that stretch. He didn't win four straight starts at any point during his 19-win season last year.

Verlander (4-2, 3.88 ERA) outdueled New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia on Thursday, working 6 2-3 innings in a 6-0 win over the majors' highest-scoring team.

"You can see that the starters are finally coming around," Verlander said. "If we turn the corner, with the offense and the bullpen playing the way they are, this team is capable of anything."

Despite a 5.31 starter ERA that ranks 29th in the majors, Detroit (22-17) trails first-place Minnesota by just two games in the AL Central.

Oakland (20-20) is also two games back of AL West-leading Texas, thanks in part to the boost provided by Braden.

The left-hander retired all 27 Tampa Bay Rays batters he faced in a 4-0 win on Mother's Day May 9, a feat that had extra meaning after his mother died of skin cancer while he was in high school.

His grandmother, who helped raise him, was in attendance.

"When it was over, his teammates, his coaching staff, everybody huddled around him, grandma on the field, you could feel the magnitude of what he really did," A's manager Bob Geren said.

Braden (4-3, 3.50) was on the other end of a 4-0 score Friday night, pitching eight innings in a complete-game loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

"You'll take those memories forever with you," Braden said of the perfect game. "But the one positive I'm OK with was that I didn't allow that to play a part in my focus and my preparation."

Braden is 2-2 with a 7.34 ERA in six career starts against the Tigers, but he held Detroit to one run in seven innings of a 5-1 home win in the most recent meeting July 1. He's 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA in five home starts this year.

Verlander has a 3.07 ERA in seven career starts against the A's, but he's 1-3 in Oakland.

The Tigers' series against the Chicago White Sox this week was cut to one game - a 6-2 loss Tuesday - due to rain. Detroit still finished its difficult homestand, which featured series against New York and Boston, at 5-3.

Rookie Brennan Boesch went 15 for 31 (.484) with eight RBIs and six extra-base hits on the homestand.

Winning has been tougher for the Tigers on the road, where they have lost four of five to fall to 8-11.

"If we can play better on the road, the sky is the limit for this team," outfielder Johnny Damon said.

Oakland is 15-7 at home after finishing a two-game sweep of visiting Seattle with a 6-5, 10-inning win Tuesday. Kurt Suzuki, who was recently activated from the disabled list, went 3 for 5 and drove in the game-winning run with a single.