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Kazmir, Bonderman battle in series finale

Aug 9, 2007 - 1:21 PM Tampa Bay (43-70) at Detroit (63-50) 1:05 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) -- Scott Kazmir gets the call for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the final of a four-game series against the fading Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

Kazmir (8-7, 3.72 ERA) has been in a groove of late, going 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA in his last five starts after posting a 0-3 mark in his previous three outings. The lefthander yielded one run through seven innings in a 9-2 win over Baltimore on Saturday.

However, Kazmir is just 1-3 with a 5.47 ERA in five career outings against Detroit, where he recorded his lone victory on May 19, 2005.

On Wednesday, James Shields hurled seven outstanding innings as the Devil Rays snapped their eight-game road slide with a 7-1 victory.

Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman (10-4, 4.50) tries for his 11th win Thursday after four unsuccessful attempts. Last time out, Bonderman gave up six runs and 10 hits in seven frames of a 7-5 setback to the Chicago White Sox.

The hard-throwing righthander has owned Tampa Bay in the past, going 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA in six lifetime starts against the Devil Rays. On May 29, Bonderman struck out eight batters to down Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield finally returned to the lineup after missing the past five games with a shoulder injury. He went 1-for-4 with a double in the first inning.

"I felt pretty good out there," Sheffield said. "It was good to get a hit on my first at-bat. The more pitches that I see, the more confident I'll get."