Tigers at Twins
Ronny Rodriguez raised his batting average over .230 for the first time in nearly two months, yet he still has managed to leave an impression on two of the game's best pitchers in less than a week. The 27-year-old utility infielder attempts to build upon one of his best offensive performances of the year as the Tigers eye their third win in four contests when they continue their three-game road series against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Rodriguez hit one of Detroit's two homers off Justin Verlander in Wednesday's surprising 2-1 victory in Houston and provided the critical blow in Friday's series-opening 9-6 win in Minnesota with a fifth-inning grand slam off Jose Berrios, highlighting a 3-for-5 effort at the plate. While the Tigers improved to 3-5 on a 10-game road trip that has seen them visit three likely playoff participants from the American League, the Twins fell to 1-3 on their six-game homestand against two opponents (Chicago White Sox and Detroit) who sit at least 18 games behind them in the AL Central. Minnesota's disappointing play at Target Field this week has allowed Cleveland to remain 2 1/2 games behind in the division and comes on the heels of a four-game road sweep in Texas last weekend. Jake Cave has been red-hot at the plate for the Twins, however, batting .485 over his last 11 contests after clubbing a pair of solo homers on Friday.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Edwin Jackson (3-6, 8.46 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (11-6, 4.40)
Jackson suffered his first loss in three starts since returning for a second tour of duty with Detroit on July 19 after yielding five runs - four earned - over five innings at Houston on Monday. The 36-year-old journeyman was much sharper in his first two outings with the Tigers, winning both turns while permitting three runs in 11 1/3 frames. Nelson Cruz is 6-for-16 with two doubles and four RBIs versus Jackson, who is 1-4 with a 5.73 ERA in 10 career games (six starts) against Minnesota.
Gibson fell to 0-2 over his last three starts on Monday, when he surrendered five runs over 6 2/3 innings in a loss to the White Sox. The native of Indiana, who has posted a 7.31 ERA during his dry spell, also has walked 10 batters in 16 frames since beating Kansas City on Aug. 3. Gibson took the loss at Detroit on June 8 after permitting five runs over five innings to fall to 8-9 with a 5.30 ERA in 20 career starts versus the Tigers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cave and 3B Miguel Sano each homered twice on Friday, boosting the Twins' total of multi-homer performances by individual players to 25 - the most such efforts by one team in a season in major-league history.
2. Detroit pounded out 17 hits in the opener, which is two shy of its season high and matches its total over the final three games of its last series in Houston.
3. Minnesota OF Byron Buxton (shoulder) is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon after going through a round of "baseball activities" prior to Friday's game, according to MGR Rocco Baldelli.