The Detroit Tigers will put their best foot forward on Sunday afternoon in the Steel City, as ace Justin Verlander will desperately try to halt his squad's brief two-game skid with another quality start.
Verlander whiffed a season-high 12 batters against the Pirates back on May 18, but will need to hope that his offense wakes up on Sunday after scoring just two runs over the first two games of the series. Verlander will also need to be wary of Pittsburgh's red-hot five-tool outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who has torched the Tigers so far in the series.
McCutchen is hitting .377 in the month of June alone, and is a stellar 6-for-19 with seven RBI in five games against Detroit pitchers this season. After producing 23 home runs and 23 stolen bases a year ago, McCutchen's 13 bombs and 14 steals through just 67 games this year have him well on pace for his first career 30-30 campaign.
Here are Sunday's starting lineups for both squads:
Tigers
1. Austin Jackson - CF
2. Quintin Berry - RF
3. Miguel Cabrera - 3B
4. Prince Fielder - 1B
5. Delmon Young - LF
6. Alex Avila - C
7. Jhonny Peralta - SS
8. Ryan Raburn - 2B
9. Justin Verlander - SP
Pirates
1. Alex Presley - LF
2. Josh Harrison - 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen - CF
4. Casey McGehee - 1B
5. Pedro Alvarez - 3B
6. Garrett Jones - RF
7. Clint Barmes - SS
8. Michael McKenry - C
9. Kevin Correia - SP
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