The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles will open a three-game series in Detroit at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Baltimore enters the series coming off a loss to Boston Thursday night. Detroit won its last two games against the Minnesota Twins and had Thursday off.
Justin Verlander (12-7, 2.46 ERA) will pitch for Detroit against Baltimore's Tommy Hunter (4-7, 5.54 ERA). Verlander is coming off a strong performance against Texas, giving up just one run with eight strikeouts in seven innings in a no-decision. Verlander shut out the Orioles for eight innings on July 15. Hunter has lost three straight decisions.
Both teams sit in second place in their divisions. Baltimore (64-54) trails the New York Yankees by 5.5 games and Detroit (63-55) is 2.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox. Baltimore and Detroit are currently among three teams, along with the Tampa Rays, within a half game of each other for the two American League Wild Card spots.
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