GDT: 5/26/09 - DET (25-18) AT KC (22-23) - 8:10 p.m. ET

KANSAS CITY -- After enduring some of the worst run support in the Majors in April, Edwin Jackson finally got a lift from the Tigers' offense his last few starts. Now, they're going to need him to return the favor.

The Tigers' reviews of the Royals' Zack Greinke from their first meeting of the year against him generally could be summed up as unbeatable. Jackson hopes to give them a chance to defy that the second time around. It's a meeting of two of the American League's top four ERAs, but as Jackson emphasized, they're not facing each other.

"I'm pitching against the team," Jackson said. "I'm not pitching against the pitcher."

Jackson's also not hitting against the Kansas City pitcher, not that the Tigers couldn't use the help.

When the Tigers faced Greinke here April 24, simply scoring a run against him was a big deal, because it was the first one he had allowed to anyone this year, ending a 38-inning scoreless stretch. It was an unearned run at that; Greinke hasn't allowed an earned run to Detroit in 19 innings since last July 23. He hasn't allowed a home run to any batter in his last 94 innings since last September.

Put those numbers up against Jackson, and there's little comparison. Put Jackson's numbers in their own context, however, and he has been the second workhorse starter Detroit desperately needed for at least the past two years.

Jackson has finished the sixth inning with one run or none allowed in seven of his nine starts this season, including each of his last five. That production has kept the Tigers in games against solid performances from Texas' Kevin Millwood, Minnesota's Francisco Liriano, Cleveland's Fausto Carmona, Seattle's Erik Bedard and others. Now, the Tigers have to hope Jackson can do it again, because hoping that Greinke has an off night simply doesn't seem realistic.

"When you're going out and being dominant and shutting teams down, there's not much more that needs to be said," Jackson said. "His actions speak out loud."

Greinke's last start marked the first time the Royals have lost with him on the mound. He gave up two runs over six innings before the Indians broke open the game against Kansas City's bullpen. Cleveland made Greinke use 103 pitches over six innings.

That's probably going to have to be part of the Tigers' plan Tuesday. If they can pull it off, they have a chance to stretch their lead in the AL Central to five games while getting back to a season-best eight games over .500.

"You've kind of just got to grind him out and make him work," catcher Gerald Laird said. "We made Gil [Meche] throw 30-some pitches in the first inning [Monday]. We grinded him out, made him work, fouled pitches off, just had good at-bats and stayed tough up there. When you face the big boys, you've got to be like that."

But then, endurance could be more of a concern for Jackson. His 132 pitches in his last start Thursday against the Rangers comprise the highest pitch total of any pitcher in any game this season. While Jackson said his arm feels fine and he was able to do his normal workouts between starts, it'll be interesting to see how deep Leyland allows him to go into this game.


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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Edwin Jackson (4-2, 2.55 ERA)
Jackson's last two starts have been anything but ordinary: he weathered a one-hour, 20 minute rain delay in the first, and went for a career-high 132 pitches in the second. Over the stretch, he totaled 15 innings and earned the win both times.

KC: RHP Zack Greinke (7-1, 0.82 ERA)
Greinke's usually sharp command was off last Thursday against the Indians. He built up a pitch count of 103 through six innings and was lifted with a 3-2 lead, which the bullpen gave up. After a brilliant start to his season in which he was 6-0, Greinke feels he's not been at his best in his last three outings, which have resulted in one loss, one win and one no-decision. In the only inning in which the Indians scored, he lapsed into using two-seam fastballs, hoping to get ground balls, instead of his usual four-seamers and ran into problems with movement. Count on him to correct that against the Tigers, a team he dominated, 6-1, in a complete-game three-hitter on April 24.

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Tidbits

... The Tigers hope to learn more about Carlos Guillen's ailing right shoulder Tuesday. They are expected to get test results from his exam last week.
... Curtis Granderson is batting .302 (26-for-86) on the road this season, compared to .200 (18-for-90) at Comerica Park.
... Magglio Ordonez has an 11-game hitting streak, during which he's batting .366 (15-for-41).
... Laird is batting 11-for-27 (.407) over his last eight games.
... Brandon Inge is 8-for-29 (.276) with two home runs lifetime off Greinke.
... Coco Crisp (.450) is 9-for-20 for his career off Jackson.
... The Tigers are 17-4 this season when they get a quality start from their pitchers.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Wednesday: Tigers (Rick Porcello, 5-3, 3.55 ERA) at Royals (Kyle Davies, 2-3, 4.78 ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 3-4, 5.74 ERA) at Orioles (Koji Uehara, 2-3, 4.09 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Dontrelle Willis, 1-1, 3.57 ERA) at Orioles (Brad Bergesen, 1-2, 5.49 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Detroit AVG
Granderson, CF .250
Polanco, 2B .259
Ordonez, RF .266
Cabrera, M, 1B .378
Larish, DH .235
Inge, 3B .280
Thomas, LF .269
Laird, C .246
Everett, SS .305

Kansas City AVG
Crisp, CF .236
DeJesus, D, LF .242
Butler, 1B .285
Guillen, RF .291
Jacobs, DH .261
Teahen, 3B .261
Callaspo, 2B .309
Olivo, C .234
Hernandez, L, SS .125

73 degrees on Tuesday in KC
Cloudy

60 percent chance of showers between 3pm and 7pm CST

Cloudy

69 degrees at Game Time

50 percent chance of showers

North Winds 10-15mph


Low near 60

Lets go

Current Conditions

Kauffman Stadium

Cloudy 71 F

Humidity: 78 %

Wind: from the WNW at 7 mph

Barometer: 29.72 in

last updated: 5/26/09 6:05 PM CDT

Dan Dickerson is in the hospital according to tonight's broadcast.

Quote :

Tigers spokesman Rick Thompson said Dickerson apparently hurt his left
leg while running near the team hotel. He was taken to a hospital for
examination and treatment, but further details were not immediately
available. It was unclear when he might return to work.

My prayers go out to Dan as heals. Get back soon.

Play ball!

Inning 1
Top Half

B:0 S:3 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson on foul tip.

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Placido Polanco doubles (14) on a soft line drive to left fielder David DeJesus

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Magglio Ordonez singles on a line drive to center fielder Coco Crisp. Placido Polanco scores.

1-0

B:2 S:1 O:3 - Miguel Cabrera grounds into double play,
shortstop Luis Hernandez to second baseman Alberto Callaspo to first
baseman Billy Butler. Magglio Ordonez out at 2nd.

1-0

Bottom Half

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Coco Crisp flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
David DeJesus flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Billy Butler flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

1-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Jeff Larish strikes out swinging. (He can't hit a slider!)

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Brandon Inge pops out to first baseman Billy Butler in foul territory.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Clete Thomas pops out to third baseman Mark Teahen in foul territory.

1-0

Bottom Half

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Jose Guillen lines out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:2 S:0 O:2 -
Mike Jacobs grounds out to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
Mark Teahen doubles (11) on a fly ball to left fielder Clete Thomas.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Alberto Callaspo grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

1-0 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:3 S:1 O:1 -
Gerald Laird grounds out, shortstop Luis Hernandez to first baseman Billy Butler.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Adam Everett flies out to left fielder David DeJesus. deeply hit!

B:1 S:1 O:3 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out, second baseman Alberto Callaspo to first baseman Billy Butler.

1-0

Bottom Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Miguel Olivo grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.