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Pitching woes hurting Tigers

Aug 16, 2008 - 10:08 AM Baltimore (59-62) at Detroit (59-63) 7:05 p.m. EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers were considered by many to be the favorite in the American League Central entering this season. With their playoffs hope all but gone, manager Jim Leyland believes his team's struggles are due in large part to its pitching staff.

Justin Verlander tries to snap a four-game personal losing streak when the Tigers duel the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Detroit enters the game in third place in the AL Central. The Tigers are fading from any thread of contention because of an underachieving staff that has suffered through injuries and inconsistency in 2008.

Jeremy Bonderman's campaign ended in early June due to a severe blood clot while Dontrelle Willis, who was acquired from the Florida Marlins before the season, has been in the minors since June 9 after a terrible start.

"I don't want to put blame on anybody for everything but overall, the pitching has not been what we hoped it would be," Leyland said. "It hasn't been as good as we thought."

Most disappointing is Verlander (8-13, 4.77 ERA), who was a preseason favorite for the AL Cy Young Award after posting a 35-17 record over his previous two seasons. But, the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year has struggle, surrendering more runs (24) over his last four starts than in any other four-start span in his career.

"I'm not picking on anybody. I'm not mad at anybody," Leyland said. "But (Verlander's) had a tough year. You don't count on something like that from a guy like that."

Dennis Sarfate (4-2, 5.16), a converted reliever, makes his fourth start for the Orioles. Sarfate has failed to pitch into the fifth inning during his previous three starts.