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Rockies-Tigers Preview

May 24, 2009 - 4:09 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Colorado (16-25) at Detroit (24-16), 1:05 p.m. EDT

Having watched their longest winning streak in nearly two years come to a halt, the Detroit Tigers hope Dontrelle Willis can help them rebound with another stellar performance.

Willis looks to build on his first win in 20 months when the Tigers attempt to take the finale of a three-game interleague series against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

The Tigers (24-17) fell 4-3 to Colorado (17-25) on Saturday after taking the series opener by the same score a day earlier. The loss snapped Detroit's season-high seven-game winning streak and its four-game run against the Rockies.

The Tigers will now send Willis (1-0, 3.27 ERA) to the mound as he looks to win consecutive starts for the first time since April 23-28, 2007, while with Florida.

The hard-throwing left-hander, who was the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year, was acquired by Detroit with Miguel Cabrera in an eight-player deal with the Marlins in December 2007. That was just two years after Willis won a career-high 22 games to finish second to St. Louis' Chris Carpenter for the NL Cy Young Award.

Willis didn't come close to that kind of success in Detroit last year, as a knee injury and control problems contributed to his 0-2 record and 9.38 ERA in eight games. He also started 2009 on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder.

The two-time All-Star struggled in his season debut May 13, allowing four runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 14-10, 13-inning loss at Minnesota.

Willis rebounded in impressive fashion Tuesday, yielding only a first-inning double and striking out five in 6 1-3 innings of a 1-0 win over Texas - his first since Sept. 25, 2007.

"I think everybody's pulling for this kid," manager Jim Leyland told the Tigers' official Web site, "and I thought that was tremendous."

Willis is 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA in four starts against Colorado.

He'll have to contend with a hot-hitting Todd Helton, who had a two-run homer Saturday to improve to 6 for 13 with two homers and seven RBIs over the last three games.

The first baseman, who's 1 for 9 against Willis, is hitting .340 with six homers and 29 RBIs after back injuries limited him to a .264 average and seven homers in 83 games last season.

"He's in a good place right now," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I think that once he wrapped his mind around what he was going to have to do to get back to his level, he was going to do it. It was just a matter of determination."

Hurdle will give the ball to Jason Hammel (0-3, 4.60), who is looking to end a personal three-game losing streak.

The right-hander has a 5.74 ERA during his slide, and Colorado has won only one of his five starts since moving him from the bullpen to the rotation last month.

He lost again Tuesday, giving up six runs - three earned - and 10 hits in six innings of an 8-1 defeat at Atlanta.

Hammel is 0-0 with a save and 7.88 ERA in four games - one start - against the Tigers. His only start against them came at Detroit on Aug. 7, 2007, when he was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in four innings of a 9-6 loss for Tampa Bay.