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Jul 17, 2010 - 6:02 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Detroit (48-38) at Cleveland (34-54), 1:05 p.m. EDT

A doubleheader against the last-place Cleveland Indians gives the Detroit Tigers an excellent opportunity to move back into first place in the AL Central.

Winning on the road, however, has been an issue all season for them.

The Tigers will send the red-hot Justin Verlander to the mound when they open a day-night doubleheader against the Indians on Saturday.

Detroit (48-39) had won six of eight against Cleveland (35-54) before a series-opening 8-2 loss Friday. Miguel Cabrera had an RBI single in the defeat to extend his career-best hitting streak to 20 games.

"I'm not here for personal stuff," said Cabrera, who leads the majors with 78 RBIs. "I'm here to win games. It's a tough loss. We have to forget about this."

The outcome was especially frustrating because the Central-leading White Sox, who are one game ahead of Detroit, had their nine-game win streak snapped at Minnesota later Friday.

"We were sluggish in every phase," manager Jim Leyland said. "We were sloppy defensively. We were sloppy on the bases. The pitching wasn't good. We didn't hit good. We didn't manage good. We didn't do anything good. It's very disappointing."

While the Tigers have won 20 of 27 overall against the Indians, they are just 16-26 on the road this season. Detroit has been outscored 82-43 while losing nine of 12 away from home.

Sending Verlander (11-5, 3.82 ERA) to the mound in the opener should help the Tigers' confidence. The Detroit ace will be looking to win his fourth straight start and move into a tie for the AL lead in wins.

Verlander gave up two runs and struck out seven in 5 1-3 innings of a 7-3 win over Minnesota on Friday. It was only the second time in his last 13 starts he failed to make it through the sixth inning.

"My curveball was probably the best it's been," he told the Tigers' official website. "The problem was that when they started sitting on it, it was almost a little too sharp. ... It was tough for me to throw it as strikes."

Verlander has won five straight decisions against Cleveland. He gave up three runs and struck out nine in six innings of a 6-4 win at Progressive Field on May 8.

Fausto Carmona (8-7, 3.64) counters for the Indians in the afternoon game.

Carmona gave up two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 9-3 win over Tampa Bay last Friday for his third straight quality start.

The right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.34 ERA in 13 starts against the Tigers, but is 0-2 in his past five outings against them, receiving five runs of support in those games. He limited Detroit to two earned runs over eight innings of a 3-0 loss June 2.

Cabrera is hitting .346 against Carmona with three homers in 26 at-bats.

Detroit will call up Rick Porcello (4-7, 6.14) from Triple-A Toledo to start the nightcap. It will be his first appearance since June 19, when he gave up five runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 6-5 loss to Arizona.

Porcello returns to the majors against his favorite opponent. He is 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA in six career starts against the Indians, going 1-0 in two outings this season.

Mitch Talbot (8-8, 3.99) gets the ball for Cleveland in the second game. He entered the All-Star break with losses in his last two starts, giving up seven runs and 12 hits in 11 innings.

The right-hander has lost four of his last five starts and is 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA in two starts against the Tigers this season, allowing four runs and six hits over five innings in each.