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Tigers seek to tee off on Mariners' Silva

Apr 19, 2009 - 5:20 AM By Santosh Venkataraman

Detroit (6-5) at Seattle (8-4), 4:10 p.m. EDT

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Detroit Tigers took full advantage of Carlos Silva last season, beating the struggling starter all three times they faced him.

The Tigers will get their first look at Silva in 2009 on Sunday when they finish a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners.

Silva (0-1, 6.00 ERA) had a miserable first season with Seattle (8-4) in 2008, going 4-15 with a career-worst 6.46 ERA. That included an 0-3 mark with a 17.69 ERA versus Detroit (6-5) in three outings - none in which he lasted more than five innings.

Detroit's Curtis Granderson, Miguel Cabrera and Placido Polanco combined to go 12-for-19 last year against Silva. Tigers left fielder Carlos Guillen was 2-for-6, and is 17-for-35 (.486) with 14 RBIs in his career against him.

Before joining Seattle, Silva went 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 11 career starts against the Tigers while playing for the Twins.

Silva had a shaky 2009 debut with Seattle at Minnesota, allowing six runs in five innings of a 6-5 loss on April 8. He pitched much better Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up two runs over seven innings in a 3-2, 10-inning victory.

"I know it's still early, but I have a lot of confidence that myself and the team are going to have a good year," Silva told the Mariners' official Web site.

Detroit evened this series with a 2-0 victory Saturday. Edwin Jackson allowed five hits over 7 2-3 innings and Brandon Inge had the game's lone RBI with a single that scored Cabrera in the sixth.

Cabrera had a single in four at-bats with two strikeouts. He entered the contest with seven multihit efforts and continues to lead the majors with a .488 average. The first baseman is also a career .385 hitter at Safeco Field with five multihit efforts in nine games.

The Mariners were shut out for the first time this year, and are still looking for the heart of their order to break out. Ken Griffey Jr. (.233), Adrian Beltre (.196) and Mike Sweeney (.214) have all started out slow for Seattle.

Seattle first baseman Russell Branyan missed Saturday's game with a tight back and is expected to be out for the series finale.

Detroit will give rookie Rick Porcello (0-1, 7.20) his second career start. He hasn't pitched since losing his major league debut April 9 at Toronto by yielding four runs in five-plus innings in a 6-2 loss.

"He looked a little young at times, bounced some curveballs, but he also threw some nasty ones and got some strikeouts on them," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He's got some work to do, but that's something to work with."

Porcello is a 20-year-old right-hander who was selected in the first round by Detroit in 2007. He spent last season at Class-A Lakeland in the Florida State League, where he posted a 8-6 record with a league-best 2.66 ERA in 24 starts.