Today at 1:08 p.m. the Washington Nationals (52-55) will try to split a quick two game set with the Detroit Tigers (60-45) at Comerica Park after dropping Game 1 Tuesday night in which Stephen Strasburg gave up his first career grand slam. Today's matinee can be live streamed here; Nationals fans can listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan, while Tigers fans can do the same on 97.1 The Ticket.
Even though former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (10-8, 3.99 ERA) is on the hill for the Tigers, MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera is not in the lineup. He was pulled from last night's win by manager Jim Leyland after showing discomfort after an early at-bat, then again after making a tough throw to first base. He is listed as day-to-day with an abdominal strain.
Verlander's struggles may be of more concern to Detroit though than Cabrera's strain. In his last start against the Chicago White Sox, he gave up 11 hits and seven runs in a loss. Verlander is confident a turnaround is in the offing, though, and even had surprising comments about Thursday's start.
"As funny as it sounds, (Thursday) was a step in the right direction," said Verlander. "I thought my stuff was the best it's been all year. It was just a little erratic."
Countering Verlander for the Nats will be Gio Gonzalez, who isn't struggling at all as of late. He has struck out 11 batters in consecutive starts, and Gonzalez has been so unconscious he didn't even realize how many Ks he racked up the second time.
"It's one of those weird lines," Gonzalez said. "You look at it and find out that at the end I had 11 strikeouts. I kid you not, it felt like I had six." He is 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA in his last 10 outings.
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