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Twins look to get back on track against Tigers

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:26 AM Detroit (67-73) at Minnesota (77-63) 8:10 p.m. EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Being swept by a pedestrian team this week put a detour in the Minnesota Twins' bumpy road to the American League playoff race. Facing the Detroit Tigers after a 14-game road trip could put them back on course.

The Twins look to get back on the winning track and snap a three-game losing skid against the Tigers on Friday.

The Toronto Blue Jays, who are trapped in fourth place in the AL East, took three games from the Twins - including a 9-0 romp on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Twins fell 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox (78-61) in the Central and 5 1/2 back of the wild-card leading Boston Red Sox (82-57).

Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.45 ERA) takes the mound with hopes of remaining unbeaten for the seventh straight outing since being recalled from Class AAA Rochester on August 1.

The 24-year-old lefthander is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his last six starts - hardly a mirror image of his first three starts this season. Coming off "Tommy John" surgery, Liriano went 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA before being demoted on April 25.

In his last start, he tossed seven stellar frames, surrendering one run and five hits against the Oakland Athletics.

Detroit will counter with rookie Armando Galarraga (12-4, 3.17), who has been one of the few bright spots for the club in this trying season.

The Tigers entered the season with lofty expectations, mostly because of the offseason acquisition of slugger Miguel Cabrera and its veteran pitching. Instead, Galarraga has outshined the struggling Justin Verlander and the injured Jeremy Bonderman in becoming the team's most reliable hurler.

The righthander leads Detroit in wins and ERA, and has been sterling over his last eight starts, going 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA.