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Tigers expect Ordonez to return vs. Orioles

Jul 17, 2008 - 10:21 AM Detroit (47-47) at Baltimore (45-48) 7:05 pm EDT

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Projected as an American League power, the Detroit Tigers have struggled to hover around the break-even mark, something Magglio Ordonez may be able to change if he makes his return from the disabled list.

Expected to play for the first time this month, Ordonez hopes to lead the Tigers in their first meeting of the season with the Orioles as the teams kick off a four-game set on Thursday.

Ordonez, who has been sidelined since June 29 with a pulled oblique, is batting .307 with 12 homers and 50 RBI.

In the games he missed, Detroit went 7-7, an appropriate record considering the team was 40-40 with Ordonez in the lineup. That is a far cry from the expectations placed on a team two years removed from a World Series appearance that appeared poised to be an offensive force with the addition of Miguel Cabrera in the offseason.

Instead, the team has been shut out 10 times and finds itself 10th in the major leagues with 449 runs scored.

Kenny Rogers (6-6, 4.55 ERA) will look to benefit from the return of Ordonez as he takes the mound. The 43-year-old lefthander did not factor into the decision last Thursday vs. Minnesota, allowing three runs and nine hits over seven frames in a 7-6 loss.

Baltimore, losers of seven of eight, will turn to Garrett Olson (6-4, 5.65), who is coming off his worst start of the season. The lefthander took the loss after surrendering seven runs and seven hits over 3 2/3 innings in a 9-8 setback to Toronto on July 9.