The Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers will play the first game of an interleague series mathchup at Comerica Park Monday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:08 p.m. ET and will air live on Fox Detroit and online here for free.
Pitching will be a major storyline in Monday's matchup. Francisco Liriano (3-0) will take the hill for the Pirates.
Liriano has generally struggled against Detroit throughout his career. His career record against his former club is 5-7 with a 5.93 ERA.
However, he has been dominant thus far in his tenure with Pittsburgh as he currently holds a 1.00 ERA. In his last start, Liriano was nearly untouchable, fanning nine in seven innings of a 1-0 win over the Cubs on Wednesday.
The Pirates have been on a roll as of late, winning eight of their last 10 games. Pitching has played a major factor in their success, as the Pirates have a 2.25 ERA over the last 13 contests and have claimed 13 victories in 15 games with Sunday's 5-4 win over Milwaukee.
"We are getting a little bit better," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We did some good things today, and we probably complicated the game for ourselves a couple different times as well. But we were able to play through it. We got on top and we stayed on top."
Justin Verlander (5-4) will look to turn his season around against Pittsburgh. In three career starts against the Pirates, Verlander is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA and two complete games.
However, he has struggled as of late, yielding 17 runs over 12 2/3 innings during his last three outings. Verlander gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings of an 11-7 victory at Cleveland on Wednesday, though he had to wait through a 62-minute rain delay to record his final two outs.
"I kind of rushed a little bit and ended up trying to get some quick outs, because I knew (the rain) was coming," he told the team's official website. "Made some bad pitches, got hurt."
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