GDT: 5/30/09 - DET (26-21) AT BAL (23-26) - 7:05 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- If a pitcher can be effectively wild, a manager can be conventionally unconventional. Tigers skipper Jim Leyland can appear to be a walking contradiction when he signals for a batter to hack away at a 3-0 pitch, but there's a method to his madness, and it's rooted in sound baseball logic.

It's all about being disciplined enough to focus, pick up the ball out of the pitcher's hand and make a split-second decision as to whether it's in that grapefruit-sized area that allows a hitter the opportunity to crush it into the stratosphere.

"We're in the big leagues, and we should be able to zone in," said third baseman Brandon Inge, "meaning I have to have the discipline and skill to take the pitch right out of his hand, be able to look at it and if it's not in this three-inch spot where I want it to be, to take it. Even if it's a strike, or a corner strike, take it. If it's in that zone, let it go. ... You can hit the ball somewhere, and it's probably going to go somewhere far."

Forget about the rules you learned in Little League, where the bat remains attached to a hitter's shoulder when the pitcher throws three balls.

Tigers designated hitter Jeff Larish is one guy who likes Leyland's aggressive approach -- as long as a hitter tempers his enthusiasm and realizes he isn't getting a totally free swing. Larish got the go-ahead in the eighth inning of Thursday's loss at Camden Yards, and though he eventually drew a walk, he appreciated his manager's confidence. With the game still 2-1 in Baltimore's favor, Leyland was hoping the left-handed-hitting Larish would connect for a home run in a hitter-friendly ballpark with a short porch in right field.

"Some guys get the green light 3-0 and assume it's going to be a strike, assume it's going to be something you can drive. But just because it's 3-0 doesn't mean they're going to lay it in there and make it easy for you," Larish said. "You've still got to hit."

But if a pitcher is going to groove a pitch in a hittable place, why not take advantage it? That's Inge's approach, one which turns percentages already in favor of the hitter further against the pitcher. And Inge expands the philosophy to the 3-1 offering.

"You get two shots. Sure, he gets you 3-0, and he could walk you. But he's going to throw the ball down the middle. If you take an accidental hack at 3-0 or 3-1, you've let him back in it, when you could have had two shots," Inge said. "If you can get in the mind-set of the guy's going to throw it right down the middle, [hit] the free pitch."

Because Inge has bought into Leyland's aggressive approach, he's become more confident in it. And confidence, Inge added, breeds more confidence.

"You have to have confidence, and [Leyland] has to have confidence in the hitter to let you zone in. Because 3-0, if you hit a ground ball right there, that's really not what you want," Inge said.

Perhaps that's why a lot of guys don't feel comfortable when given the go-ahead to swing away when they could draw a four-pitch walk.

"Most guys, to be honest with you, don't like to swing on 3-0," Leyland said. "I give the 3-0 green light a lot and very rarely do our guys swing, for whatever reason. I think some of them get too anxious -- some of them get out front a little bit. They're worried about ending up swinging at a bad pitch."

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (5-2, 3.55 ERA)
Though Verlander doesn't boast the season numbers of Zack Greinke, his performance over the past five weeks has given a similar boost to a Tigers team that has been carried by solid starting pitching so far this season. Verlander is 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA over his last six starts, the latest an easy win over the Royals on Memorial Day in which he struck out eight and walked none over seven scoreless innings. He's getting swings and misses from all of his pitches at this point, including a fastball that remains steady in the upper 90s when he needs it late in games. He'll take that dominant stuff and put it up against the Orioles, whom he has beaten three times without a loss in four career meetings to go with a 1.29 ERA and just 17 hits allowed over 28 innings.

BAL: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (4-4, 4.90 ERA)
Guthrie managed a return to form in his previous start, when he braved a steady downpour and allowed just one earned run over seven innings. That was just the second time in 10 starts he had managed to hold a team to fewer than three runs, and the other time happened all the way back in his second start. Last season, Guthrie managed to allow two earned runs or fewer in 17 of his 30 starts.

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Tidbits

... Leyland said before Friday's game that C Dane Sardinha would get a start either Saturday or Sunday. Sardinha has not played since Sunday at Colorado, when he snapped an 0-for-14 skid with a single.
... OF Marcus Thames, on the 15-day disabled list with a left rib-cage strain since April 19, was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout Thursday night for Triple-A Toledo. Thames is hitting .118 (2-for-17) on his Minor League rehabilitation assignment.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Sunday: Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 4-3, 2.58 ERA) at Orioles (Jason Berken, 1-0, 3.60 ERA), 1:35 p.m. ET
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Tigers (RHP Rick Porcello, 6-3, 3.48 ERA) vs. Red Sox (Daisuke Matsuzaka, 0-3, 8.82 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Baltimore

1. Roberts, 2B
   
2. Jones, CF
   
3. Markakis, RF
   
4. Huff, 1B
   
5. Mora, 3B
   
6. Scott, DH
   
7. Wieters, C
   
8. Reimold, N, LF
   
9. Izturis, C, SS
   

Detroit

1. Clete Thomas, RF
   
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
   
3. Magglio Ordonez, DH
   
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
   
5. Curtis Granderson, CF
   
6. Brandon Inge, 3B
   
7. Ryan Raburn, LF
   
8. Adam Everett, SS
   
9. Dane Sardinha, C
   

Starting pitcher: Justin Verlander

Inning 1
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Clete Thomas called out on strikes.


B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Placido Polanco grounds out, second baseman Brian Roberts to first baseman Aubrey Huff.

B:2 S:0 O:2 -
Magglio Ordonez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Adam Jones.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Miguel Cabrera strikes out swinging.

0-0

Bottom Half

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Brian Roberts flies out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Adam Jones grounds out, third baseman Brandon Inge to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:0 S:3 O:3 -
Nick Markakis strikes out swinging.

0-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

B:2 S:0 O:0 -
Curtis Granderson homers (12) on a fly ball to right field.

1-0

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Brandon Inge strikes out swinging.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Ryan Raburn strikes out swinging.At a ball in the dirt

B:1 S:1 O:3 -
Adam Everett grounds out, shortstop Cesar Izturis to first baseman Aubrey Huff.

1-0 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Aubrey Huff singles on a line drive to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Melvin Mora flies out to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:2 S:0 O:2 -
Luke Scott flies out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
With Matt Wieters batting, wild pitch by Justin Verlander, Aubrey Huff to 2nd.

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Matt Wieters swinging.

1-0 after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:0 S:3 O:1 -
Dane Sardinha swinging.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Clete Thomas homers (2) on a fly ball to center field.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Placido Polanco grounds out, second baseman Brian Roberts to first baseman Aubrey Huff.

2-0

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Magglio Ordonez swinging.

6 for Guthrie

2-0 after 2.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Nolan Reimold lines out softly to second baseman Placido Polanco.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Cesar Izturis lines out softly to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Brian Roberts flies out to left fielder Ryan Raburn.

2-0 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera swinging.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson singles on a line drive to center fielder Adam Jones.

B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Brandon Inge doubles (6) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Nick Markakis. Curtis Granderson to 3rd.