GDT158: 9/24/13 - DET (91-66) AT MIN (66-90) - 8:10 p.m. ET

Tigers: RHP Doug Fister (13-9, 3.71 ERA)

Fister was efficient in his last outing striking out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, though his lone mistake was a three-run homer. He was able to control the Mariners on Thursday with strong command of his fastball and cutter.



Twins: LHP Scott Diamond (6-11, 5.54 ERA)

Diamond went 6 1/3 innings against the White Sox on Wednesday, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks. It was his first quality start with the Twins since July 26 and his first win since June 20, also against Chicago.





Tigers take another shot at clinching playoff spot
Fister opposes Diamond with postseason berth on the line

By AJ Cassavell / MLB.com | 9/24/2013 1:38 AM ET

The champagne is still on ice for the Tigers entering the second game of a three-game series in Minnesota against the Twins.

With their magic number down to two, Detroit needs a win and a Cleveland loss to secure a third consecutive division title on Tuesday night.

The man tasked with getting them halfway there is right-hander Doug Fister, who is 13-9 with a 3.71 ERA. In his most recent outing, on Thursday, he struck out 10 Mariners in 7 2/3 innings but made one mistake, which resulted in a three-run homer.

"He was good," said Victor Martinez, who started at catcher for just the third time this season in Fister's start against Seattle. "He was working at a pretty good pace, working all of his pitches."

Fister and the Tigers can clinch a playoff spot with either a win or a Rangers loss, though that goal is secondary to a division title. So, too, is home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but that may be slipping away. The Tigers trail the Athletics by three games with five to play, and Oakland holds the tiebreaker, having won four of seven this year against Detroit.

As for Minnesota, left-hander Scott Diamond will make his third start since returning to the rotation on Sept. 12. He tossed his first quality start since July 26 and earned his first win since June 20 his last time out.

Last Wednesday, Diamond held the White Sox to three runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings. He didn't record a strikeout and got just three swinging strikes, but he managed to limit his opponent nonetheless.

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire will be looking for another quality outing from Diamond, as the Twins are mired in a slump that has seen them lose 15 of their last 18 games.

"We're not playing well," Gardenhire said. "We're playing against some very good teams who are hungry and want to do some things. We're facing a lot of good pitchers with a lot of young players playing for us. So I just want to see clean baseball games and have our pitchers give us a chance. We just haven't had much of a chance lately with our staff."

Tigers: Fielder plays in 500 straight
On Monday night, first baseman Prince Fielder played in his 500th consecutive game -- the longest active streak in Major League Baseball.

"I'm stubborn," Fielder said. "I've always said: Unless it's bleeding or broken, I'm playing, just because I'm hard-headed."

Fielder spent 483 of those 500 games as a first baseman and 17 as a designated hitter.

Twins: Mauer shut down for year
All-Star catcher Joe Mauer has been shut down for the remainder of the 2013 season, general manager Terry Ryan announced on Monday.

Mauer sustained a concussion on Aug. 19 when he was hit by a foul tip and hasn't played since.

"Ultimately, we're going to work toward the 2014 season," Ryan said. "There are no setbacks. There are no red flags here. But on the advice received from medical people, the best thing was to have Mauer get healthy as soon as possible and be ready for next year."



Worth noting
• Minnesota's Josh Willingham is hitting .300 with two homers and a .440 on-base percentage in 25 plate appearances against Fister.

• The Tigers have won 18 of their last 26 games at Target Field dating back to September 2010.

• Oswaldo Arcia's 14 home runs are the most by a Twins rookie since Marty Cordova hit 24 in 1995. Arcia was a late scratch from Monday's game because of a bruised right knee.


AJ Cassavell is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajcassavell. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.



INJURY UPDATE:


• RHP Octavio Dotel (Right elbow inflammation, transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list on June 8, 2013.)





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• WED, Sep 25:
TIGERS: (RHP Max Scherzer (20-3, 3.00 ERA)) AT
TWINS (RHP Kevin Correia (9-12, 4.29 ERA))
8:10  p.m. ET (FS-D / FM 97.1)


• THU, Sep 26:
OFF DAY


• FRI, Sep 27:
TIGERS: (RHP Rick Porcello (13-8, 4.38 ERA)) AT
MARLINS (RHP Tom Koehler (4-10, 4.45 ERA))
7:10  p.m. ET (FS-D / FM 97.1)


• SAT, Sep 28:
TIGERS: (RHP Anibal Sanchez (14-8, 2.64 ERA)) AT
MARLINS (RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-6, 3.50 ERA))
7:10  p.m. ET (FS-D / FM 97.1)

STARTING LINEUPS:

TIGERS (career numbers off Diamond)

   Austin Jackson, CF (4-for-20, 3 walks, 4 K’s)
   Torii Hunter, RF (2-for-11, walk, 2 K’s)
   Miguel Cabrera, 3B (10-for-21, HR, 2 walks, 3 K’s)
   Prince Fielder, 1B (3-for-17, walk, 4 K’s)
   Victor Martinez, DH (3-for-14, K)
   Omar Infante, 2B (3-for-12, HR)
   Matt Tuiasosopo, LF (1-for-7)
   Alex Avila, C (1-for-5, 3 K’s)
   Ramon Santiago, SS (0-for-4)

P: Doug Fister

TWINS (career numbers off Doug Fister)

   Alex Presley, CF (1-for-3)
   Brian Dozier, 2B (5-for-9, HR, K)
   Trevor Plouffe, 3B (2-for-17, HR, 2 K’s)
   Josh Willingham, DH (6-for-20, 2 HR, 3 walks, 4 K’s)
   Josmil Pinto, C
   Ryan Doumit, RF (2-for-11, walk, 2 K’s)
   Chris Parmelee, 1B (2-for-8, walk, 4 K’s)
   Clete Thomas, LF (0-for-3)
   Eduardo Escobar, SS (0-for-3, K)

P: Scott Diamond

Detroit - Top of 1st
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
A Jackson grounded out to shortstop.
T Hunter singled to left center.
M Cabrera grounded into double play, third to second to first, T Hunter out at second.


Minnesota - Bottom of 1st
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
A Presley grounded out to pitcher.
B Dozier walked.
T Plouffe singled to center, B Dozier to third.
J Willingham grounded into double play, third to second to first, T Plouffe out at second.

0-0 AFTER 1 INNING

Detroit - Top of 2nd
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
P Fielder singled to left.
V Martinez walked, P Fielder to second.
O Infante singled to right, P Fielder to third, V Martinez to second.
M Tuiasosopo grounded into fielder's choice to second, P Fielder out at home, V Martinez to third, O Infante to second.
A Avila struck out swinging.
R Santiago grounded out to third.


Minnesota - Bottom of 2nd
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
J Pinto struck out swinging.
R Doumit doubled to deep center.
C Parmelee singled to right, R Doumit scored, C Parmelee to third on error by catcher A Avila.
CWS 1 - 0

C Thomas grounded out to second.
E Escobar flied out to left.

CWS 1 - 0 AFTER 2 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 3rd
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
A Jackson flied out to right.
T Hunter singled to center.
T Hunter to second on wild pitch by S Diamond.
M Cabrera struck out swinging.
P Fielder flied out to center.


Minnesota - Bottom of 3rd
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
A Presley flied out to center.
B Dozier reached on infield single to third.
T Plouffe singled to right, B Dozier to third.
J Willingham struck out swinging.
J Pinto grounded out to pitcher.

CWS 1 - 0 AFTER 3 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 4th
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
V Martinez homered to left.
TIED 1 - 1
O Infante homered to left.
DET 2 - 1
M Tuiasosopo grounded out to shortstop.
A Avila flied out to left.
R Santiago singled to right.
A Jackson homered to left center, R Santiago scored.
DET 4 - 1
T Hunter grounded out to third.


Minnesota - Bottom of 4th
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
R Doumit grounded out to shortstop.
C Parmelee struck out swinging.
C Thomas struck out looking.

DET 4 - 1 AFTER 4 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 5th
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
M Cabrera lined out to left.
P Fielder flied out to center.
V Martinez popped out to second.


Minnesota - Bottom of 5th
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
E Escobar grounded out to first.
A Presley grounded out to shortstop.
B Dozier struck out swinging.

DET 4 - 1 AFTER 5 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 6th
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
O Infante flied out to center.
M Tuiasosopo struck out swinging.
A Avila flied out to left.


Minnesota - Bottom of 6th
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
D Kelly in left field.
T Plouffe flied out to right.
J Willingham struck out looking.
J Pinto grounded out to third.

DET 4 - 1 AFTER 6 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 7th
Scott Diamond pitching for Minnesota
R Santiago grounded out to shortstop.
A Jackson singled to left.
M Tonkin relieved S Diamond.
T Hunter singled to center, A Jackson to second.
M Cabrera popped out to second.
A Jackson to third, T Hunter to second on wild pitch by M Tonkin.
P Fielder flied out to left.


Minnesota - Bottom of 7th
Doug Fister pitching for Detroit
R Doumit homered to right.
DET 4 - 2

C Parmelee reached on infield single to second.
C Thomas struck out swinging.
E Escobar singled to center, C Parmelee to second.
D Smyly relieved D Fister.
A Presley struck out looking.
A Alburquerque relieved D Smyly.
B Dozier grounded out to shortstop.

DET 4 - 2 AFTER 7 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 8th
Michael Tonkin pitching for Minnesota
V Martinez flied out to left.
O Infante grounded out to pitcher.
C Thielbar relieved M Tonkin.
D Kelly struck out swinging.


Minnesota - Bottom of 8th
Bruce Rondon pitching for Detroit
B Rondon relieved A Alburquerque.
T Plouffe struck out swinging.
J Willingham struck out swinging.
J Pinto struck out swinging.

DET 4 - 2 AFTER 8 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 9th
Caleb Thielbar pitching for Minnesota
A Avila flied out to left.
R Santiago struck out swinging.
A Jackson singled to right.
C Fien relieved C Thielbar.
T Hunter struck out swinging.


Minnesota - Bottom of 9th
Joaquin Benoit pitching for Detroit
J Benoit relieved B Rondon.
R Doumit struck out swinging.
C Parmelee doubled to deep right.
D Mastroianni ran for C Parmelee.
C Thomas struck out swinging.
E Escobar struck out swinging.


TIGERS WIN 4-2

CLICK HERE FOR BOX SCORE


W: D. Fister (14-9)
L: S. Diamond (6-12)
S: J. Benoit (23)


GAME INFO:

WP: Diamond, Tonkin.
Pitches-strikes: Fister 109-71, Smyly 7-4, Alburquerque 6-3, Rondon, B 10-9, Benoit 20-15, Diamond 101-64, Tonkin 15-11, Thielbar 15-11, Fien 5-4.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fister 8-3, Smyly 0-0, Alburquerque 1-0, Rondon, B 0-0, Benoit 0-0, Diamond 7-6, Tonkin 1-2, Thielbar 0-1, Fien 0-0.
Batters faced: Fister 27, Smyly 1, Alburquerque 1, Rondon, B 3, Benoit 4, Diamond 28, Tonkin 5, Thielbar 4, Fien 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Smyly 2-0, Alburquerque 2-0, Tonkin 1-0, Fien 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Brian O'Nora. 1B: Fieldin Culbreth. 2B: Adrian Johnson. 3B: Bill Welke.
Weather: 72 degrees, clear.
Wind: 9 mph, In from CF.
T: 3:05.
Att: 25,541.
Venue: Target Field.
September 24, 2013