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After picking up a significant victory on Sunday to remain above .500, the Detroit Tigers will hit the road for a pivotal nine-game stretch on Monday that begins out in Seattle.
As a much-needed boost to the rotation, the Tigers will welcome back right-handed starter Doug Fister, who has been on the shelf since leaving his April 7th start early with a costochondral strain. Fister will face a Seattle organization where he spent three seasons and went 12-30 as a starter before coming to Detroit via trade. Opposing Fister for the Mariners will be 23-year-old righty Blake Beavan, who is 1-3 this season with a 4.45 ERA.
In addition to setting their sights back on first place in the Central Division, the Tigers will hope to get the bat of outfielder Brennan Boesch, who is batting .205 this year, going at some point on the road trip. Boesch was dropped from his usual No. 2 spot in the order all the way to No. 8 on Sunday, and responded with an 0-for-4 performance. Boesch has now gone 0-for-12 over his last three games, and could be on the verge of losing playing time if he can't break out of this slump.
For more on the Tigers, head over to Bless You Boys. For more on the Mariners, be sure to check out Lookout Landing. And for more MLB news and analysis, head over to Baseball Nation.