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Tigers aim to regain AL Central lead

Aug 22, 2007 - 1:46 PM Cleveland (68-56) at Detroit (68-57) 7:05 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) - The Detroit Tigers hope to regain the lead in the American League Central Division when they continue a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.

Thanks to a 2-1 victory in Tuesday's series opener, the Tigers pulled within one-half game of the Indians.

With some momentum, the Tigers send ace Justin Verlander (13-4, 3.63 ERA) to the mound. The righthander, who beat the New York Yankees on Thursday, is seeking his third straight win.

In his last appearance against the Indians, the hard-throwing righthander gave up three runs and six hits over seven innings in a 12-3 rout here on July 5. He is just 3-3 in seven career stars in the series.

Rookie Jair Jurrjens tossed a one-hitter and Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen storked consecutive homers to pace the Tigers on Tuesday.

Detroit also saw the return of righthander reliever Joel Zumaya, who had been sidelined since early May with a ruptured tendon in his middle pitching finger that required surgery.

Cleveland's Paul Byrd (11-4, 4.41) gets the call after limiting Tampa Bay to one run over six frames in a victory on Friday. At Comerica Park on July 3, Byrd worked seven strong innings but did not factor in the decision.

The 36-year-old righthander has been stellar against the Tigers, posting a 7-2 record with a 3.36 ERA in 14 lifetime starts.