GDT: 4/7/09 - DET (0-1) AT TOR (1-0) - 7:07 p.m. ET

Edwin Jackson and his potential are potentially the big mysteries in the Tigers' rotation. But there's very little mystery left between Jackson and the Jays.

When Detroit's major starting pitcher acquisition over the offseason makes his first regular-season appearance in a Tigers uniform, he'll face a team that has opposed him more often than any opponent except the Red Sox and Yankees in terms of games played. No team, in fact, has more plate appearances against Jackson in his career than Toronto.

Two of the top four familiar hitters with Jackson in terms of player appearances are Blue Jays, as are five of the top 20. Nobody has faced Adam Lind more often, and it isn't particularly close.

After 10 meetings over the last few years, four of them last season alone during Jackson's final year with the Rays, the Jays might arguably know more about what to expect from Jackson than the Tigers do.

"They've seen me so many times, there's no secrets there," Jackson said. "Now, there's no secret to what pitches you have. It's just a matter of who's going to get who that day. They know what I've got. I know what they've got, give or take a few new players."

In that situation, it's a matter of who executes. If Jackson makes his pitches, his talent should be enough to win out, even against a team that's familiar with him.

"You just have to go out and stick to your game plan," Jackson said.

To a large extent, that's the story of Jackson's career. When he executes, he has the arsenal to create some pitching mastery, from a mid-90's fastball to nasty breaking stuff. When he's off, the results are vastly different.

The Jays saw both of those extremes last year. Jackson tossed eight scoreless innings at Rogers Centre on May 8, the start of a 20-innings scoreless streak for him over three outings. Two months later, on July 20, the Jays came to Tropicana Field and touched him for six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"It just gets away -- the ability to really stem the tide when it's going in the wrong direction, when you're able to gather your thoughts, slow things down and get out of a jam," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after that July 20 game. "And sometimes he's been able to do that. And tonight was one of those nights [he could not]. And I think that's a mark of youth, in a sense, or a lack of experience."

The Tigers believe Jackson has the experience to blossom. With three-plus Major League seasons under the belt at the age of 25, Jackson was enticing enough for the Tigers to give up one of their valued lefty power bats in Matt Joyce to get him. Now comes the blossoming part.

Manager Jim Leyland doesn't want Jackson to try to win 20 games. He just wants Jackson to pitch his game. If anybody should be able to tell the difference Tuesday, it's the Jays.

Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Edwin Jackson (14-11, 4.42 ERA in 2008)
Among Detroit's starting candidates who were around for all of Spring Training, nobody was as stingy as Jackson, who allowed a mere .176 average to opponents, amounting to 12 hits over 20 innings. Three of those hits were home runs, including a three-run blast against the Phillies after he walked the previous two hitters. He has never lost at Rogers Centre in six career outings, five of them starts, because he has largely kept the ball out of the seats, having yielded five homers over 33 1/3 innings.

TOR: LHP David Purcey (3-6, 5.54 ERA in 2008)
Purcey is third on Toronto's depth chart, but has been moved up into the second slot in the rotation to break up the right-handed and left-handed starters. Purcey had an inconsistent stint as a rookie starter for the Jays last season, finishing with 58 strikeouts and 29 walks over 65 innings in 12 starts. Purcey -- a first-round pick by Toronto in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft -- pitches best when he has his curveball working well and he's consistently finding the strike zone. The left-hander can be exposed when his breaking ball isn't working properly.

Tidbits
Gerald Laird will become the 13th different Major Leaguer to catch Jackson. Not surprisingly, Dioner Navarro has caught 57 of Jackson's 106 career appearances. Only two other catchers have more than seven -- Josh Paul with 15, and Shawn Riggans with 11. ... Alex Rios is feast or famine against Jackson -- 6-for-24 with five extra-base hits, two of them homers, and four RBIs, but also six strikeouts. ... Look for Marcus Thames to return to the lineup against the left-hander Purcey and start what should be an uptick in playing time at designated hitter and the outfield.



On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FS-D

On radio
• WXYT 1270/FM 97.1

Up next
• Wednesday: Tigers (RHP Zach Miner, 8-5, 4.27 in 2008) at Blue Jays (RHP Jesse Litsch, 13-9, 3.58 in 2008), 7:07 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Tigers (RHP Rick Porcello, ML debut) at Blue Jays (LHP Ricky Romero, ML debut), 12:37 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 13-7, 3.73 in 2008) vs. Rangers (Kris Benson, 11-12, 4.82 in 2006), 1:05 p.m. ET

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starting Lineups:

Detroit
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, M, 1B
Guillen, LF
Laird, C
Thames, DH
Inge, 3B
Everett, SS

Toronto
Scutaro, SS
Hill, 2B
Rios, RF
Wells, V, CF
Lind, DH
Rolen, 3B
Overbay, 1B
Barajas, C
Snider, LF

Inning 1
Top Half

B:3 S:2 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to shortstop Marco Scutaro.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Placido Polanco strikes out on foul tip.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, third baseman Scott Rolen to first baseman Lyle Overbay.

Bottom Half

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Marco Scutaro called out on strikes.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Aaron Hill flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:0 S:2 O:3 -
Alex Rios flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

0-0

Inning 2
Top Half

B:4 S:2 O:0 -
Miguel Cabrera walks.

B:0 S:1 O:1 - Carlos Guillen grounds into a force out,
third baseman Scott Rolen to second baseman Aaron Hill. Miguel Cabrera
out at 2nd. Carlos Guillen to 1st.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Gerald Laird called out on strikes.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Marcus Thames flies out to left fielder Travis Snider.

0-0

No throwing garbage at Magglio!

Bottom Half

B:2 S:2 O:0 -
Vernon Wells doubles (2) on a line drive to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Adam Lind grounds out to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Vernon Wells to 3rd.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Scott Rolen grounds out, third baseman Brandon Inge to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Lyle Overbay grounds out, shortstop Adam Everett to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

0-0 after 2 innings

Tigress wrote:

No throwing garbage at Magglio!

For sure, glad to see ya here.

Inning 3
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Brandon Inge doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Travis Snider.

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Adam Everett out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher David Purcey to first baseman Lyle Overbay. Brandon Inge to 3rd.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Vernon Wells. Brandon Inge scores.

1-0

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Placido Polanco flies out to right fielder Alex Rios.

Bottom Half

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Rod Barajas flies out to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Travis Snider flies out to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

B:1 S:0 O:3 -
Marco Scutaro pops out to third baseman Brandon Inge in foul territory.

good game for so far... 31 pitches, 25 for strikes

1-0 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, shortstop Marco Scutaro to first baseman Lyle Overbay.

B:4 S:0 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera walks.

B:3 S:1 O:3 - Carlos Guillen grounds into double play,
shortstop Marco Scutaro to second baseman Aaron Hill to first baseman
Lyle Overbay. Miguel Cabrera out at 2nd.

1-0

I want to adopt Magglio!

that could be arranged!

Bottom Half

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Aaron Hill strikes out swinging, catcher Gerald Laird to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Alex Rios strikes out swinging.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Vernon Wells flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

9 straight Jays retired by Jackson!

1-0 after 4 innings

Go EDWIN!!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

that could be arranged!

I'll give him asylum! No one would think of looking for him here!

Tigress wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

that could be arranged!

I'll give him asylum! No one would think of looking for him here!

Inning 5
Top Half

B:1 S:2 O:0 -
Gerald Laird singles on a line drive to center fielder Vernon Wells.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Marcus Thames grounds out, third baseman Scott Rolen to first baseman Lyle Overbay. Gerald Laird to 2nd.

B:2 S:0 O:2 -
Brandon Inge pops out to first baseman Lyle Overbay in foul territory.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Adam Everett grounds out, second baseman Aaron Hill to first baseman Lyle Overbay.

1-0

Bottom Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Adam Lind strikes out swinging.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Scott Rolen pops out to second baseman Placido Polanco in foul territory.

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Lyle Overbay grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

Jackson has retired 12 in a row! 51 pitches, 40 for strikes!

1-0 after 5 innings

Inning 6
Top Half

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to third baseman Scott Rolen in foul territory.

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Placido Polanco singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Vernon Wells.

B:3 S:3 O:3 - strikes out swinging and caught stealing 2nd, catcher Rod Barajas to second
baseman Aaron Hill.

1-0

Bottom Half

B:4 S:1 O:0 -
Rod Barajas walks.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:1 S:0 O:1 - Travis Snider grounds into a force out,
first baseman Miguel Cabrera to shortstop Adam Everett. Rod Barajas out
at 2nd. Travis Snider to 1st.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Marco Scutaro grounds out sharply to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Travis Snider to 2nd.

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Aaron Hill flies out to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

Jackson at 65 pitches

1-0 after 6 innings