The Detroit Tigers will turn to hard-throwing right-hander Max Scherzer Sunday afternoon looking for a three-game sweep of All-Star Game hosts Kansas City and a fifth straight win headed into the break.
Scherzer (7-5, 4.98 ERA) injured his left hamstring a day after starting against the Rays in Tampa Bay June 28 and has not pitched since.
Prior to the injury, Scherzer appeared to be figuring out how to effectively use his electric stuff--he'd allowed only five runs in his previous 20 innings while striking out 26 and walking just three.
Detroit hitters will face off with Royals lefty Everett Teaford (1-1, 4.70 ERA), who's making only his seventh career start. Teaford gave up three runs in seven solid innings last Monday in Toronto, and the Tigers' are hitting only .247 against lefties as a team this season (compared to .275 against righties), so Teaford again will have a chance to succeed.
The Tigers sit at 4.5 games out in the AL Central behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm ET from Comerica Park and will be televised on Fox Sports-Detroit.
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