The Detroit Tigers (29-21) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-20) will face off in an interleague matchup tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ROOT Sports, MLB.com with a paid subscription and for free here.
Anibal Sanchez (5-4, 2.38 ERA) is coming off an outstanding performance in which he came two outs from recording his second career no-hitter last week. The Tigers starter struck out 12 hitters and earned his fifth victory of the season in the team's 6-0 win.
"In the end, it's the result of my work. I try to figure out, to put my ball in the strike zone," Sanchez, who no-hit Arizona as rookie with the Marlins in 2006, told ESPN. "It's a nice result, and I take it."
His performance was more dominant than April 26, when he yielded five hits and fanned 17 in eight innings of a 10-0 win over Atlanta on April 26. "It's not that I go to the mound and want to do something special, it's just that I want to go nine innings, go deeper, get a good command, get a good game," Sanchez said.
A.J. Burnett (3-5, 2.57 ERA) overcame 10 walks and three runs on homers to Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez in 17 2/3 innings to win three straight starts against the Tigers - including Game 4 of the 2011 AL division series while a member of the New York Yankees. He gave up two hits over six scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over Detroit at PNC Park last season.
However, the right-hander is 0-3 in his last four starts despite posting a 2.57 ERA. His teammates have totaled five runs in those contests. Burnett allowed a two-run double in the second inning and two other hits over seven innings of a 2-1 loss at Milwaukee on Friday.
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