• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Likely minus Sheffield, Tigers go for second straight win

Aug 7, 2007 - 1:41 PM Tampa Bay (42-69) at Detroit (62-49) 7:05 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) -- With Gary Sheffield likely to miss his fifth straight game, the Detroit Tigers will look to put together their second consecutive win when they continue a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday.

Sheffield, who leads the Tigers with 23 home runs, missed his fourth straight game Monday with shoulder problems but has stated that he expects to return by the end of this series.

Detroit had lost five straight contests - four of which the slugger was sidelined for - before Monday's 6-4 comeback, which improved it to 6-5 when the nine-time All-Star does not start.

To win their second consecutive game for the first time since July 18-19, the Tigers will see if Nate Robertson (6-9, 5.05 ERA) can break his three-game losing streak. In Wednesday's 3-2 loss at the Oakland Athletics, he permitted three runs and nine hits in six-plus innings.

Since his last win on July 17, the lefthander has surrendered 16 runs - 15 earned - and 30 hits in 17 2/3 innings.

History is not on the side of Robertson's, as he has struggled against the Devil Rays, going 0-3 with a 5.94 ERA in four lifetime starts. Included in that is a 5-3 road loss on May 30, when the lefthander surrendered four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

His counterpart on the mound will be rookie Jason Hammel (1-1, 5.40), who will be making his fourth straight start since being promoted from the bullpen on July 21.

The 24-year-old was forced to leave his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday earlier due to shoulder tightness. Hammel lasted just three innings, allowing two runs and three hits.

This will be the righthander's first appearance against Detroit.