Tigers, Blue Jays play two at Comerica

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Due to the postponement of the contest on Friday, the fans at Comerica Park will get a double dose of baseball this afternoon when the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays wrap up their four-game series with a traditional doubleheader.

Taking the hill for Detroit in the opening matchup with be Jeremy Bonderman.

Earlier in his career Bonderman was considered the ace of Detroit, but the emergence of Justin Verlander, and more importantly a rash of injures have left the veteran right-hander surrounded by question marks.

The 2010 campaign has been an inconsistent nightmare for Bonderman, who is just 5-6 with a 4.98 earned run average. The last time the Washington native was on the hill, he was pounded by Texas, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. However, despite the lackluster showing, Bonderman did not factor in the 8-6 setback.

This will be the ninth career start for Bonderman against Toronto and his 11th appearance overall. During that span, Bonderman has performed well against the AL East foe, notching a 2-2 mark with a solid 3.00 earned run average.

Brett Cecil is one of the many young pitchers for the Blue Jays, but like most young arms Cecil has dealt with some bumps in the road this year. In fact, the southpaw has just one victory in his last six matchups.

The last time the 24-year-old was on the mound he limited Kansas City to just three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. Cecil, who saw his ERA rise to 3.99 on the season, also walked three batters in the 5-4 loss to Kansas City.

Cecil, who is 5-3 in 10 road starts this season, will be meeting the Blue Jays for the first time in his brief career.

In the night cap, the Tigers will look towards Armando Galarraga, who has gone winless in his last three starts. The right-hander has won just twice in his last 10 outings, and one of those victories was the infamous near perfect game.

The last time the 28-year-old was on the hill he tossed 7 1/3 innings against Texas, but surrendered four runs on nine hits, en route to an 8-0 loss. It was the first loss at home for Galarraga, who is now 2-1 with an impressive 2.98 earned run average in seven games at Comerica Park.

Galarraga has enjoy success against Toronto in his career, posting a 2-0 mark with an equally impressive 2.30 earned run average.

The Blue Jays will turn to Jesse Litsch, who is coming off his first victory of the season. Litsch, who was activated from the disable list on June 9 went winless in his first six outings before leading Toronto to a win over Kansas City on July 20.

In the victory over the Royals, the right-hander allowed just one run on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. Even though the victory came on the road, the Florida native is just 1-3 outside of Toronto, with an even worse 8.00 earned run average.

In two career starts against Detroit Litsch is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA.

On Saturday, Jose Bautista knocked in two runs to back a solid outing from Shaun Marcum as Toronto clipped Detroit, 3-2. Vernon Wells drove in the other for the Blue Jays, who snapped a two-game slide.

Marcum (9-4) yielded eight hits and a pair of runs over 5 2/3 frames, fanning five with one walk to register his third win in four starts. Kevin Gregg pitched a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save.

Miguel Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run for the Tigers, who lost slugger Magglio Ordonez to a fractured right ankle and second baseman Carlos Guillen to a leg injury.

Ordonez was taken for evaluation, and the team later announced he'd be out 6- to-8 weeks while recovering.

Rick Porcello (4-8) gave up five hits and three runs with four walks over six innings in defeat for Detroit, which has dropped eight of its last 10 games.

Toronto prevailed in five of eight encounters with the Tigers last season, with the clubs splitting a four-game set in the Motor City from September 11-14.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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