Toronto @ Detroit preview

Comerica Park

Last Meeting ( Jul 25, 2010 ) Toronto 5, Detroit 3

Jesse Litsch is hoping the Toronto Blue Jays will keep him in the starting rotation for a long time.

For that to happen, Litsch will need start pitching a whole lot better away from the Rogers Centre.

Litsch looks for his second straight victory Saturday evening as he leads the Blue Jays against the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. It's also the finale of the four-game set between the teams, with another four-game series coming up next month in Toronto.

The Blue Jays were no doubt encouraged by Litsch's last outing, in which he earned his first victory of the season with 5 2/3 innings of one-run, eight-hit ball against the Kansas City Royals. For Litsch (1-4), the win was his first since Sept. 28, 2008 against Baltimore, as he made just two starts last season before undergoing ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow.

Despite the strong outing at Kauffman Stadium, pitching away from Toronto has been a nightmare for Litsch. The 25-year-old is 1-3 with an ERA of 8.00 on the road, and opponents are hitting a robust .364 against them.

Contrast those to his statistics at home, where's 0-1 with a modest 3.72 and an opponents' batting average of just .197.

Those numbers are a microcosm of Litsch's career. His ERA is more than a run lower at home than on the road, and opponents hit .235 against him at the Rogers Centre compared to .298 away from there.

Litsch is 0-1 lifetime against the Tigers with a 3.46 ERA in two starts. One of his two starts in 2009 came against Detroit, which pounded him for five runs over six innings in a 5-1 in on April 8.

The Tigers counter with right-hander Armando Galarraga (3-3), who has scuffled mightily since throwing a near-perfect game 7 1/2 weeks ago. The 28-year-old is just 1-2 with four no-decisions since then, allowing four or more runs on four occasions over that stretch.

Galarraga was shelled for four runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings in his last outing, an 8-0 drubbing at the hands of the Texas Rangers. That appearance boosted his ERA to 4.50, nearly two points higher than it was after his one-hit shutout against Cleveland on June 2.

Galarraga has fared well in his career against Toronto, owning a 2-0 record with a 2.30 ERA over three appearances. In two starts against the Blue Jays, Galarraga has allowed just one run over 13 1/3 innings. He was tagged for three runs in 2 1/3 innings in a relief role the last time he faced the Blue Jays back on Sept. 11, 2009.

Toronto and Detroit have vastly different schedules over the next week. The Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians, each of whom sits last in their respective divisions. The Tigers, meanwhile, hit the road for a seven-game trip that will match them up against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, two of the top four teams in the American League.

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