(Sports Network) - Max Scherzer tries to become the second Detroit pitcher to 10 wins this evening when theTigers play a makeup game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comerica Park.
Scherzer was denied his 10th win on Tuesday in Los Angeles, as the Dodgers reached him for six runs and nine hits in six innings, dropping him to 9-3 on the season. Scherzer has allowed more than five runs in four of his last six starts and has seen his earned run average swell nearly two runs in that span to 4.61.
"It's a combination of everything," said Scherzer, who will be trying to join teammate Justin Verlander and New York's CC Sabathia as the only 10-game winners in the American League. "Some of those hits, that's baseball. You live with it. You turn the page and move on. Sometimes, they're going to hit the ball right at people. But for me, it's all about what happens the next start."
Scherzer did not get a decision the last time he faced the Jays, but pitched brilliantly, surrendering just an unearned run in seven innings. He had beaten them in his previous start and is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three starts against them.
Detroit enters on high note after a thrilling win in a very emotional day at Comerica. On the day the Tigers honored their late great manager Sparky Anderson, they exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning to pull out an 8-3 win in the rubber match of their three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Inge all had two RBI for the Tigers, who won for the third time in their last four games.
"We hit some good and some not so good, but wherever we hit them they found the gap," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland.
Toronto, meanwhile, also enters tonight's makeup on a high note after completing a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. On Sunday, Ricky Romero tossed a four-hit shutout and knocked in two runs at the plate to help the Jays to a 5-0 victory.
Romero (7-7) retired the first 10 batters he faced and allowed only one runner to reach past first base. The left-hander walked two, struck out five and had a two-run hit that highlighted a four-run sixth inning.
"I'm not a good hitter, so it definitely feels good to help myself out in that situation," Romero said. "I was just thinking he was going to throw me a fastball."
The Blue Jays had lost four in a row before taking all three meetings at Busch Stadium.
Tonight, Toronto turns to rookie right-hander Zach Stewart, who will be making his third big league start. Stewart suffered his first loss on Tuesday in Atlanta, as the Braves ripped him for five runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He had allowed a pair of runs in seven innings in his debut on June 16 against Baltimore.
"I just left a few balls out over the middle of the plate and the mistakes I made they took care of and did their job on," Stewart said afterward. "I guess that's what you find out is the difference, in the major leagues and minor leagues, is the amount of mistakes they let you make, and I made too many."