Justin Verlander will start Tuesday in Game 2 of the Detroit Tigers' four-game series with the Boston Red Sox.
The Tigers lost the series-opener Monday -- in frustrating fashion -- but a team in need of a win can't do much better than Verlander. On the season Verlander is 5-2 with a 2.15 ERA, and lately he's been even better than that. He has 33 strikeouts in his last four starts, going 3-1 over that span. Heck, he was even sterling in that one loss, pitching 8.0 innings, striking out seven and giving up two runs.
The Tigers' offense, which has scored four runs in two straight games, will face Red Sox righty Daniel Bard. In his first season as a starter, Bard is 4-5 with a 4.69 ERA.
The Tigers are currently 4.0 games back of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians and 3.5 games behind the No. 2 Chicago White Sox.
First pitch is schedule for 7:10 Eastern.
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