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Indians-Tigers Preview

Jun 2, 2010 - 3:49 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Cleveland (18-31) at Detroit (26-24), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Even a visit from the Cleveland Indians might not be enough to help the Detroit Tigers overcome their recent struggles.

Coming off a rare home loss to the Indians, the Tigers look to avoid their seventh defeat in eight games as the AL Central foes continue their series Wednesday night at Comerica Park.

Russell Branyan and Shin-Soo Choo homered as Cleveland (19-31) snapped a seven-game road skid against the Tigers with a 3-2 win Tuesday. Losers of 11 of 15 overall, the Indians have won consecutive games against Detroit after losing 10 straight in the series.

The Tigers (26-25) have dropped eight of 10 since moving a season-high seven games over .500 on May 20. A lack of offense has been a key problem for Detroit, which has totaled three runs in back-to-back losses and averaged 3.5 over its last 10 games.

"As a manager, you beat yourself up a bit, but I don't think you shake up your lineup," manager Jim Leyland said. "Our lineup has just been sputtering."

Miguel Cabrera had two hits and Carlos Guillen drove in a run Tuesday for the Tigers, who are 4-2 against the Indians in 2010.

While Guillen is 3 for 19 in his last five games, Cabrera continues to produce, going 13 for 30 in his last seven. Cabrera is 8 for 19 against Cleveland this season, and he's a career .318 hitter with two homers versus scheduled starter Fausto Carmona.

After Jake Westbrook allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings to help Cleveland win Tuesday for just the third time when scoring three or fewer runs, Carmona (4-3, 3.69 ERA) tries to avoid a third straight loss.

Though he's allowed nine runs in 12 innings in his last two outings, Carmona is 6-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 12 starts against the Tigers. The right-hander allowed four runs in six innings of an 8-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Friday.

"You can't complain about the effort he gave us," manager Manny Acta told the Indians' official website.

Choo's homer Tuesday was his only hit in 18 at-bats over the last four games for the Indians, who are 2-3 on a 10-game trip.

Choo is 5 for 14 with two homers in his last four games versus Detroit, and 7 for 19 with four doubles and a homer against scheduled starter Armando Galarraga.

After getting a vote of confidence from the organization, Galarraga (1-1. 4.50) makes his third start of the season and first since May 22.

The Tigers parted ways with struggling veteran Dontrelle Willis by trading him to Arizona and decided to stick with Galarraga, who began the season in the minors and allowed six runs in 4 2-3 innings of a 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last start.

"We just felt at this point that we were going to give Galarraga the ball. He has pitched very well for us at Triple-A," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said.

The right-hander, who pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief in a 5-4 loss to Oakland on Friday, looks to avoid a fourth straight loss to the Indians. After starting 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA in his career versus the Indians, Galarraga's 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA in his last five against them.