While one champion will be determined in Friday night’s matchup between Pittsburgh and Detroit, it won’t be at PNC Park.
The same night of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup, the Tigers and Pirates open a three-game interleague series.
The Pirates’ Ian Snell (1-6, 5.54 ERA) seeks his first win in eight weeks.
Since defeating Atlanta on April 18, Snell has gone 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA in his last nine starts with the Pirates winning just twice in that span. At Houston on Sunday, the right-hander allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings of a 6-4 loss, but didn’t get a decision.
Snell is 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA in his last three interleague starts. In his only appearance against the Tigers on July 2, 2006, Snell gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings of a 9-8 loss.
Detroit counters with rookie Rick Porcello (6-4, 3.98), who looks to break out of his little funk.
After posting a 1.50 ERA in winning all five May starts, Porcello has yielded seven runs in 9 1-3 innings while going 0-1 in his two outings this month. On Sunday, the 20-year-old right-hander gave up four runs and five hits in five innings of a 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, but didn’t factor in the decision.
In his only interleague start, Porcello gave up one run and six hits in six innings of a 4-3 win over Colorado on May 22.
With Ryan Perry having been optioned to the minors, manager Jim Leyland is looking for a seventh-inning reliever.
He'd like it to be Brandon Lyon.
"I have to get this guy more active, and I will," Leyland said after an effective Lyon performance Tuesday followed by a seven-up, seven-down outing Thursday. "He doesn't know it yet, but he'll be a big key to our success as this season goes on. And in turn, he's got to do the job."
Lyon was brought in to contest for the closer's role in spring training, but inconsistency cost him that shot, and more inconsistency early in the season put him further down in the pecking order.
But Lyon has not been scored on in seven of his last nine appearances since getting torched for five runs May 13.
Leyland had been using Lyon, Bobby Seay and Perry in the sixth and seventh innings to set up first Joel Zumaya and then closer Fernando Rodney.
The manager likes to spot Seay against lefties because he's more effective in more limited use.
Perry, despite his walks and inexperience, had shown limited effectiveness as a middle-inning reliever. Jeremy Bonderman can't be expected to fill that role while he's trying to redefine his pitching style to reflect the loss of a dominating fastball.
With Nate Robertson, Zach Miner and Bonderman now being used in early and middle relief, Leyland is hoping Lyon can be the seventh-inning guy. If not, look for Perry to return if he makes some progress in the minors.
WHITE SOX 4, TIGERS 3: Joel Zumaya failed to retire a batter in the ninth inning of a tie game, allowing two hits and a walk while making a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt. Zumaya slipped fielding the bunt, then threw it past first base as he tried underhanding the ball to Placido Polanco. A walk loaded the bases, and a single through the right side of a drawn-in infield ended the game, which was delayed almost three hours at the start by rain.
Ramon Santiago hit a solo home run in the eighth for Detroit's first run, and Curtis Granderson added a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth to create a 3-3 tie.
NOTES, QUOTES
--RHP Edwin Jackson emerged with a no-decision Thursday in a game in which he gave up two runs in five innings but wasn't nearly as sharp as he had been for more than a month. Jackson reached 100 pitches in five innings as his fastball slipped in and out of the strike zone. He walked four and gave up five hits in his five innings. Jackson's fastball stayed 2-3 mph lower than it normally is until he finally was throwing some 95 and 96 mph heaters in the fifth.
--CF Curtis Granderson has been flipping back and forth between leadoff and fifth in recent Detroit batting orders and surprisingly has hit better in the power spot than hitting first. He batted fifth Thursday and had three hits, a single, double and a tying two-run home run with two out in the ninth. "Nobody's really told me why I'm there or what my role is," Granderson said of batting behind 1B Miguel Cabrera. "They've just let me go out and do what the situation calls for on the field." Granderson is batting .242 as a leadoff man, but .360 as the No. 5 hitter.
--LHP Dontrelle Willis will retain his spot in the Tigers' rotation, at least on Sunday, manager Jim Leyland said Wednesday after the southpaw battled his way through a five-inning start in which he allowed three runs despite giving up five walks. "It was not a flawless performance, but I liked the way he competed his (butt) off and I'm giving him the ball Sunday," Leyland said. "He better pitch well because I want to see him hit." Willis had a .234 career batting average with Florida but hit eight home runs and drove in 35 runs in 351 at-bats. "I'm just excited to be pitching," Willis said. "I get to start, and that means the most."
BY THE NUMBERS: 2.05 -- Walks per nine innings pitched by RHP Edwin Jackson this season through June 7, a nearly 50 percent drop in his ratio of 3.78 a year ago and the third year in a row his control has improved. Jackson had ratios of 6.19 and 4.92 in 2006 and 2007, respectively. This season he had walked 19 in 83 1/3 innings.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm just going to have to find a way to pitch, and to be successful if I want to keep playing. When I left Lakeland (for a rehab assignment), I thought (my velocity) would come back a little bit, but it hasn't. I have to pitch with what I've got. Hit my spots and move the ball around. I'm probably not going to punch out 10 guys in a game. I'm going to use a lot of stuff I didn't use before." -- RHP Jeremy Bonderman, in search of a low-90s fastball he hasn't seen since a blood clot in his right shoulder was diagnosed a year ago.
ROSTER REPORT
--LHP Nate Robertson was brought in to get two left-handed hitters out in the eighth inning Thursday. He struck out White Sox DH Jim Thome but served up a fat high-80s fastball that C A.J. Pierzynski cranked into the right field seats for a home run that gave Chicago a 3-1 lead. Robertson has been very streaky this year in switching from starting to the bullpen. Without a low-90s fastball, he has to be precise with his location.
--RHP Brandon Lyon retired all seven batters he faced, and his recent success has caught his manager's eye. Lyon has not allowed a run in four straight appearances and six out of seven, so manager Jim Leyland hopes he'll be able to handle work in late-game situations. "He doesn't know it yet, but he'll be a big key to our success as this season goes on. And in turn, he's got to do the job," Leyland said.
--INF Ramon Santiago continues to fare well in limited playing time, which is what manager Jim Leyland felt would happen this season. Santiago started at second base Thursday so Placido Polanco could have a day off. Santiago belted a solo home run in the eighth, his fourth of the year to equal his career best with nearly two-thirds of the season yet to be played.
• RHP Joel Zumaya needs to change his act, because opponents have caught on. Zumaya comes out of the bullpen breathing fire and throwing smoke, which contributed to his suffering the loss Thursday in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Detroit. Zumaya opened the ninth with high-90s fastballs, and CF Brian Anderson drilled one right back up the middle for an opening single. A Zumaya error on a sacrifice, a walk and another single through a drawn-in infield ended the game. Opponents sit and wait for Zumaya to throw fastballs, and his location often is erratic, so he has to come in to the hitting zone. He also neglects throwing his excellent curve or changeup, which would upset hitters’ timing.
Medical Watch:
LF/DH Carlos Guillen (left shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list May 5. His injury was diagnosed as “thrower’s shoulder” by Tigers trainer Kevin Rand following an MRI exam that showed no structural damage. Guillen was still unable to throw in early June, and manager Jim Leyland said he would remain sidelined long-term.
C Matt Treanor (torn labrum in right hip) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 24, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 4. He had surgery April 30, and he is likely out for the season.