Tampa Bay @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 28, 2014 ) Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 6

The Detroit Tigers survived an ugly monthlong stretch and are hitting their stride as they continue an 11-game homestand Thursday with the first of four games against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tigers have won 11 of 13 and are coming off a three-game sweep of Oakland, which owns the best record in baseball. Detroit, losers of 20 of 29 before the current hot spell, will send reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the mound in the series opener.

Tampa Bay is buried in the basement of the AL East but it hardly had the look of a last-place club while posting a three-game sweep at the New York Yankees to extend its winning streak to a season-high five games. The Rays fell off the map with a disastrous 1-14 stretch but they have bounced back to win 14 of their last 21. Tampa Bay, which is playing the final leg of an 11-game road trip, split six meetings with the Tigers in 2013, losing two of three in Detroit.

TV: 7:08 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), FSN Detroit

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Erik Bedard (4-5, 4.21 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Max Scherzer (9-3, 3.64)

Bedard halted a three-start winless drought last time out by giving up three runs and five hits over a season-high seven innings at Baltimore. The 35-year-old Canadian failed to get through six innings in seven of his previous eight starts, going 1-4 in that span. Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter, who emerged from a slump with three RBI singles Wednesday, is 9-for-28 with two homers and six RBIs against Bedard.

Although he did not factor in the decision, Scherzer is coming off his most overpowering effort of the season, overcoming a pair of first-inning runs to strike out 13 in Houston. Scherzer has pitched markedly better away from home, allowing three runs and 13 hits over 22 innings in his last three road starts. In contrast, he was shelled for 10 runs in his last home start and gave up 11 hits in his previous outing at Comerica Park.

WALK-OFFS

1. Tigers DH Victor Martinez missed the series against Oakland but is expected to return to the lineup Thursday.

2. Rays 2B Logan Forsythe is 11-for-21 during a streak of five straight multiple-hit games.

3. Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler has hit safely in 11 of 12 games, including eight multi-hit contests.

PREDICTION: Tigers 5, Rays 3