Detroit @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 25, 2010 ) Toronto 5, Detroit 6

The Rogers Centre has been baseball's premier launching pad this major league season – but not when Ricky Romero is on the mound.

Romero looks to continue his home success Thursday as the Toronto Blue Jays welcome the Detroit Tigers for a four-game weekend series. The teams split their first four meetings earlier this season at Comerica Park, while the Jays took five of eight meetings with the Tigers in 2009.

Toronto is coming off a successful series against the New York Yankees, in which it took two out of three from the division rivals. Vernon Wells had three hits, including a home run, and Aaron Hill also went deep Wednesday night as the Blue Jays earned a 6-3 victory in the rubber match.

Wednesday's two-homer performance was a microcosm of the Jays' success at the dome this season. They've swatted a major-league best 107 home runs there, and they also lead all of baseball with 192 homers overall. The Rogers Centre has yielded 2.86 homers per game, the highest total of any major-league park.

Few hurlers have been able to transform the homer-happy park into a pitcher's paradise the way Romero has this season. The 25-year-old left-hander owns a 5-2 record at the Rogers Centre, and his 2.63 ERA at home is nearly nine-tenths of a point lower than his ERA for the season (3.50).

Even more impressive is the fact that Romero has surrendered just four home runs in 72 innings at the Blue Jays' bandbox in 2010.

He isn't the only one to enjoy success at home. Romero ranks ninth in the American League in home ERA, while Brandon Morrow is 15th (2.84) and Shaun Marcum is 25th (3.34). Brett Cecil followed suit Wednesday, allowing just two runs over eight innings to improve to 5-2 in Toronto this season.

Romero is coming off a no-decision in his previous start after surrendering four runs on nine hits over seven innings in a 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Romero had eight strikeouts in that game to push him to 144 for the season, surpassing the 141 Ks he registered as a rookie in 2009.

The 2005 first-round pick is 1-2 lifetime against the Tigers with a 4.26 ERA over three starts. He last faced them July 22 in Detroit, taking the loss after surrendering three runs over seven innings in a 5-2 defeat.

The Tigers counter with hard-throwing right-hander Max Scherzer (9-9), who is on a roll with victories in his last two starts. He was sensational in his last outing, allowing two runs over seven innings while striking out eight as the Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2.

Scherzer has never faced the Blue Jays in his career, but has been stingy with the home-run balls heading into his first appearance at the Rogers Centre. The 26-year-old hasn't allowed a long ball in his last five starts spanning 33 1/3 innings.