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Verlander tries to slow down O's offensive attack in Game 2

Oct 3, 2014 - 1:22 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Justin Verlander will try to find a way to slow down Nelson Cruz and the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, as the Detroit Tigers aim to even the best-of-five American League Division Series at a game apiece in Game Two at Camden Yards.

Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1.

The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. J.J. Hardy delivered a solo homer later on, while Alejandro De Aza and Jonathan Schoop each finished 2- for-4 with two RBI in the win.

Cruz now has 15 postseason home runs and owns a career postseason slugging percentage of .700, which is third all-time for players with at least 100 postseason plate appearances, trailing only Babe Ruth (.744) and Lou Gehrig (.731).

"We'll see what tomorrow brings," manager Buck Showalter said. "Quickly."

Chris Tillman (1-0) surrendered back-to-back solo homers to Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez in the second inning, but permitted just two other hits while striking out six over five frames.

Miguel Cabrera homered off Darren O'Day in the top of the eighth to bring Detroit within 4-3, before the Orioles sent 12 men to the plate in their half of the inning to turn the contest into a rout.

"Up until that point in the game, it was a pretty good game and it just got away from us," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "You've got to credit the Baltimore Oriole hitters as well."

Scherzer (0-1) was charged with five runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings of work.

The AL East champion Orioles may have a tougher go of it on Friday against Verlander, who has been perfect in seven ALDS starts, going 4-0 with a 1.79 ERA.

Verlander, though, finished the regular season 15-12 with a 4.54 ERA, his highest since 2008. He also gave up an AL-leading 104 earned runs in 206 innings, allowed nearly 10 hits per nine innings and saw his strikeout total significantly drop for the second year in a row.

"It's certainly been a 'down' season overall for him," Ausmus said. "But certainly the last couple of outings have been outstanding."

Verlander did finish the season strong and allowed just two runs over his final two starts. He is 9-2 lifetime versus the O's with a 3.43 ERA in 15 starts.

"It was the end of the year, and it's nice to finish strong," Verlander said. "But you come into the postseason, and it's a whole new season."

Baltimore, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Wei-Yin Chen, who was terrific for the Orioles this season, registering a 16-6 record with a 3.54 ERA. Chen also ended the year on a high note and pitched to a 2.05 ERA in five September starts.

Chen, who won his last five decisions at home and was 8-2 with a 3.76 ERA at Camden this season, allowed one earned run over 6 1/3 innings against the New York Yankees in his only other postseason start during the 2012 ALDS.

"Of course (if) you have experience in playoffs, you will know how the crowds would be and how the environment would be," Chen said. "But (I'll) keep doing the same thing I was in the season, so it doesn't change that much for me."

These two teams have never met one another in the postseason, but the Tigers were 5-1 against the O's in the regular season.