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Blue Jays continue set with visiting Tigers

May 7, 2011 - 2:33 PM (Sports Network) - The Toronto Blue Jays are set to entertain the Detroit Tigers for the second of a four-game set this afternoon as the teams clash inside the Rogers Centre.

Toronto, which held a 10-6 advantage over the Tigers in 2008-2009 before finishing an even 4-4 with the club a season ago, opened with a three-run first inning on Friday, en route to the 7-4 victory in the first meeting of the season between the squads. Adam Lind belted a solo home run and drove in two runs for the Jays in the victory, while Corey Patterson and J.P. Arencibia brought in two runs apiece for the hosts upon their return from a 10-game road trip that saw them post a 5-5 mark.

Toronto starter Jesse Litsch was solid in 6 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits and one run while fanning nine batters to earn the win, his third in five decisions this season. After the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the ninth to close the gap, reliever Frank Francisco retired the final batter in order to pick up his second save of the season and preserve the win.

Phil Coke was tagged with the loss, the Tigers' fourth straight on the road. The left-hander gave up 11 hits and four runs in six innings as he saw his record drop to an unsightly 1-5.

"I thought he hung in there and battled and gave us a chance," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Coke's efforts even as the team fell to 6-11 on the road.

Jhonny Peralta registered a pair of hits for the visitors and Brandon Inge was credited with two RBI, even has he suffered three strikeouts.

A couple of pitchers vying for their third win of the season and consequently a .500 record early in 2011 head to the mound this afternoon as the Detroit Tigers go with Justin Verlander and Toronto leans on Ricky Romero.

The Blue Jays left-hander is shooting for his second win in as many starts after he worked through six innings against the New York Yankees last week in the Bronx, giving up just two runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out seven in the 5-3 triumph. Romero, who has a career mark of only 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA versus the Tigers, has shown great control on the mound so far this season with 41 strikeouts against 13 bases-on-balls over 39 innings. However, the third-year man out of Cal State-Fullerton has issued 14 walks and fanned only 16 in 24 2/3 innings all-time versus Detroit.

The visitors are putting their faith in Verlander, who has won just two of his first seven appearances of the season. The right-hander was last in action on Monday when he gave up three runs on eight hits and a season high-tying four walks over six innings of work in a no-decision against the New York Yankees.

The AL Rookie of the Year in 2006, Verlander is 30 games over .500 (85-55) for his career, but against the Blue Jays he has a record of just 1-2 with a 6.68 ERA in five starts all-time.

Verlander will have his hands full with Lind, who leads the Jays in home runs with seven and is one of the AL leaders in RBI with 27. At the moment Lind is enjoying an 11-game hit streak and in his last seven games he's compiled 14 hits while knocking in seven runs for Toronto. Lind's performance at the plate has somewhat made up for the lackluster effort by Yunel Escobar, who in the last six games is batting just .130.

From a pitching standpoint, Toronto's staff is one of only two in the American League still without a shutout (New York), yet the group still has one of the better ERAs at 3.68 that is considerably better than Detroit's mark of 4.47 and has the Tigers ranked 12th in the league heading into today's action.