PITCHING MATCHUP:
Armando Galarraga
Detroit – RHP Armando Galarraga (3-4, 5.74 ERA)
The Tigers and Galarraga continue to work on the issues that turned the team's Pitcher of the Month for April into a pitching mess for May. After going 3-0 in the opening month, he's 0-4 with a 9.92 ERA in his past five starts, having allowed 25 runs on 30 hits over 22 2/3 innings. Galarraga was somewhat better in his last outing on Saturday, allowing four Rockies runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, but his crushing blow was a Todd Helton solo homer he allowed immediately after the Tigers tied the game.
Baltimore – RHP David Hernandez (Major League Debut)
Hernandez will be the second Orioles pitcher in less than a week to make his big league debut when he replaces the injured Koji Uehara. Hernandez struck out 14 batters in his last outing at Triple-A Norfolk and has posted a 3-1 record and a 2.91 ERA through eight starts. Hernandez led the Eastern League in strikeouts last year and currently ranks second in the International League in that category.
NOTES:
Thursday might be the only game of the series before the Tigers see baseball's top-rated catching prospect, Matt Wieters. The Orioles are expected to call him up from Triple-A Norfolk on Friday. ... Magglio Ordonez has a 13-game hitting streak, during which he's batting .340 (17-for-50). ... Miguel Cabrera is 8-for-20 over his last five games, including two doubles and two homers. ... The Tigers will be without radio play-by-play Dan Dickerson for the series. He returned to Detroit on Wednesday to undergo surgery for a ruptured left quad tendon, which he suffered while jogging in Kansas City on Tuesday morning.
Series Thread: Detroit Tigers (26-19) @ Baltimore Orioles (21-26)
Series Thread: Detroit Tigers (26-19) @ Baltimore Orioles (21-26)
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