• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Tigers, Indians meet in AL Central battle

May 25, 2007 - 2:43 PM Cleveland (28-17) at Detroit (29-17) 7:05 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers will try to add some distance to their slim lead over the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central when the teams meet Friday.

A one-half game lead in the division separates the Tigers from the Indians, who have dropped seven of 10 at Comerica Park.

Detroit sends Nate Robertson (4-3, 3.62 ERA) to the mound in the opener. He snapped his personal two-game skid last time out, yielding two runs in five innings of an 8-7 win over St. Louis.

The lefthander split his two starts vs. Cleveland last season. He is 2-3 with a 5.00 ERA in 11 career starts against the Indians.

On Thursday, Carlos Guillen homered twice and drove in five runs and Magglio Ordonez had four hits and three RBI as the Tigers rolled to an impressive 12-0 triumph over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Cleveland's Paul Byrd (4-1, 3.55) goes in search of his third consecutive winning start. In his last outing, Byrd allowed three runs and nine hits through seven frames in a 5-3 victory over Cincinnati.

The righthander is 6-2 with a 3.04 ERA in 13 lifetime games, including 12 starts, against the defending American League champs. Byrd has a 2-2 mark with a 1.67 ERA against the Tigers.