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Litsch, Blue Jays aim for sweep of Tigers

Apr 8, 2009 - 5:27 AM Detroit (0-2) at Toronto (2-0) 7:07 p.m. EDT

TORONTO (AP) -- Questions arose when Toronto right-hander Jesse Litsch spent time late in spring training pitching against minor leaguers.

On Wednesday night, though, there will be no question whether the Blue Jays' No. 3 starter will be prepared to take the mound at Rogers Centre against the Detroit Tigers as Toronto goes for its first 3-0 start since 1996.

"I'm ready to roll," Litsch told the Blue Jays' official Web site following his final spring start.

Litsch (13-9, 3.58 ERA) takes the mound for the first time since a 10-4 spring training victory over Florida on Friday, when he allowed six hits, four walks and two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

"I feel like I've done it the right way, and if he gets off to a bad start, it's not because we pitched him in minor league games," Toronto pitching coach Brad Arnsberg.

In his only other career start against the Tigers, Litsch failed to get a decision in a 5-1 loss on Aug. 14 after striking out three and allowing four hits in seven innings.

Miguel Cabrera went 1-for-3 against Litsch in that matchup as the Tigers salvaged the final game of the four-game set.

Cabrera is 4-for-6 with a double in 2009 as Detroit has dropped two in a row - still far from the 0-7 start last season when the Tigers finished an AL Central-worst 74-88.

"This is not what to expect during the year for anyone watching on the outside," said Brandon Inge, whose ninth-inning solo homer on Tuesday tied it at 4. "This is more of a fluke, last year was more of habit. You won't see this that much. We're too good of a ballclub with too good of an attitude for this to happen on a daily basis."

Inge is 3-for-8 with two homers and three RBIs in the first two games of the series. He is hitless in two career at-bats against Litsch, but reached once on a hit-by-pitch.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland will hope to get a similar outing from Zach Miner on Wednesday as he did from first-year Tiger Edwin Jackson, who went 7 1/3 innings on Tuesday while allowing just two hits and one earned run.

Leyland said Miner "did a good job" but "strayed a little bit" in last Friday's 3-1 spring training loss to Atlanta.

Miner (8-5, 4.27) appeared in 45 games last season, but was converted into a starter in late July when the Tigers needed one at the back end of the rotation. The right-hander went 5-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 13 starts in 2008, including a no-decision on Aug. 12 when he struck out five and allowed just one run in six innings in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays.

Miner is 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA in five career appearances against the Blue Jays. This will be his first start in Toronto since picking up the win in a 5-3 victory on June 10, 2006.

After going 4-for-5 with six RBIs in Monday's 12-5 season-opening win, designated hitter Adam Lind went 0-for-3 Tuesday. Lind, though, drew a one-out walk in the ninth that preceded Rod Barajas' game-winning sacrifice fly.