Baltimore @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 11, 2010 ) Baltimore 5, Detroit 3

Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander looks to continue his dominance over the Baltimore Orioles and help his club avoid a three-game sweep on Sunday.

Verlander is 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA over his career against the Orioles with 31 strikeouts in six starts spanning 42 innings.

The big right-hander is riding a hot streak, too. He is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA over his last six starts overall and is coming off a 9-1 win over the Chicago White Sox that saw him give up one run on five hits over seven innings.

Verlander would welcome some run support from his offense. Detroit (71-72) didn’t get on the board until the eighth inning of Saturday’s 6-3 loss. The Tigers left seven runners on base Saturday and are hitting 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position in this series.

Meanwhile, Baltimore (55-87) continues to pull things together now that Buck Showalter is calling the shots. The Orioles are 23-14 since he took over and seem to have figured out their problems on the road. Baltimore was 14-40 as the visiting club before Showalter took over, but has now won 11 of 17 road games.

The Orioles' offense may be the biggest area of improvement. Baltimore is averaging 5.6 runs per game over its last seven, up from its season average of just 3.76. Adam Jones had four hits and Brian Roberts had three while the O’s cranked out 16 hits in Saturday’s win. Roberts is hitting .419 over the last seven games but is just 3-for-16 lifetime against Verlander.

Baltimore sends Chris Tillman (1-4, 7.42 ERA) to the mound for his second start since getting called up on Sept. 5. The rookie went 5 1/3 innings in an 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in his last outing. Tillman gave up three runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, while striking out four and walking three in picking up the no-decision.

The Detroit Tigers had won six of eight games before Baltimore came to town, scoring at least five runs in each of those six wins. The Tigers, who haven’t been swept in a series since Aug. 17-19, have MLB’s fifth-best team batting average at .270, but sit in the middle of the pack averaging 4.51 runs per game.

Miguel Cabrera continues to supply consistent offense for Detroit, cracking four hits so far in this series. He is hitting .336 with 34 home runs and an AL-leading 113 RBIs.