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Athletics-Tigers Preview

May 29, 2010 - 3:55 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Oakland (25-23) at Detroit (25-21), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Since dropping back-to-back home games to the Detroit Tigers last week, the Oakland Athletics have been on a roll thanks to strong performances from their starting pitchers.

Brett Anderson will try to add another in his return from the disabled list.

Making his first start in five weeks, Anderson will try to lead the A's to their seventh win in eight games Saturday night when they continue a four-game road series against the Tigers.

Oakland (26-23) was outscored 10-3 by Detroit (25-22) on May 19-20, but it's the A's who have been stingy the past seven games. Their staff has a 2.18 ERA over that span, with their starters posting a 1.64 mark.

In Friday night's series opener, the A's overcame three homers by Miguel Cabrera in a 5-4 victory. Cabrera, who drove in all four runs, is off to the best start of his career in hitting .341 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs over 45 games.

"It was a great night for Miguel Cabrera," manager Jim Leyland said. "But it was not a good night for the Tigers."

Oakland scored the go-ahead runs in the ninth on Gabe Gross' infield single and a sacrifice fly from Landon Powell, who hit his first homer of the season earlier in the game.

"We have a scrappy team," manager Bob Geren said. "That's the way we've been winning. Everybody contributes."

The victory put the A's within one-half game of Texas for the AL West lead. They previously had sole possession of first place May 5 and trailed by four games as recently as May 21.

Anderson (1-1, 2.35 ERA) will try to help get his team back atop the division in his expected return from elbow inflammation and a strained forearm. The left-hander, however, will likely be limited to between 70 and 80 pitches Saturday.

He hasn't started since giving up one run and three hits over six innings to Cleveland on April 24. He opened the season with 14 straight scoreless innings before he was tagged for six runs over his final three against Baltimore on April 18.

As a rookie, Anderson had mixed results against Detroit. He gave up nine runs - three earned - in 3 1-3 innings in a 14-1 rout at Comerica Park last May but yielded one run and four hits over 5 1-3 innings in a 7-1 home win June 29.

His counterpart, Rick Porcello (4-4, 5.58), also experienced a similar pattern as a rookie against Oakland. The right-hander limited the A's to one run over six innings in a 9-1 home victory last May but was hit for five runs in consecutive losses in Oakland.

Porcello has also alternated wins and losses in his last five starts, including Sunday's 6-2 victory over the host Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite taking a couple of line drives off his body, he gave up two runs and nine hits over six innings.

That victory represents the Tigers' only win in the six games since their road sweep of Oakland. Before Friday's loss, Detroit had won six of eight at home against the A's.