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Tigers go for rare series win in Oakland

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05/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Detroit Tigers won a series in the city of Oakland, the team advanced to the World Series. While the reward won't be nearly as great this time around, the American League Central contenders do have the opportunity to end a few years of frustration at the Oakland Coliseum in this afternoon's finale of a two-game set with the homestanding Athletics.

After taking Wednesday's opener by a 5-1 score, Detroit is in a position to defeat the A's in consecutive games on the road for the first time since the 2006 AL Championship Series, when the Tigers won the initial two matchups held at the Coliseum en route to a four-game sweep. Detroit had gone just 3-11 over its last 14 visits to Oakland prior to last night's triumph.

The Tigers haven't won a series at the Coliseum since prevailing in two of three tests there from April 18-20, 2006.

Detroit got the early upper hand in this set behind an outstanding performance from Justin Verlander, with the Tigers ace going the distance on a four-hitter to win his fourth straight start. The All-Star right-hander struck out five while issuing one walk in a dominating 116-pitch effort.

"A great pitcher like that makes pitches when he has to, and he did that [Wednesday]," Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Verlander afterward.

The Tigers broke open a scoreless game by scoring four times in the top of the seventh inning, capped by a two-run double by Casper Wells. Brandon Inge snapped the deadlock with a solo homer off Oakland starter Dallas Braden to begin the frame.

Danny Worth added an RBI single in the eighth and finished 3-for-3 for Detroit, winners of three of its last four contests and now just one game behind Minnesota for the AL Central lead. Wells had a pair of hits while filling in for Magglio Ordonez, who was scratched from the lineup due to a sore heel and is considered day-to-day with the injury.

Braden (4-4) was removed with none out in the seventh and was charged with two runs allowed on six hits in the loss, the left-hander's second straight since his memorable perfect game back on May 9. The defeat was Oakland's sixth in its past eight tilts.

Today's finale marks the second major league start for A's rookie Tyson Ross, with the first taking place in an emergency capacity this past Saturday in Anaheim. Subbing for the injured Justin Duchscherer, the 23-year-old retired the first 11 Angels hitters before allowing three consecutive hits, the last of which was a three-run homer by Kendry Morales that chased him from the game. Ross ended up taking the loss in a 12-3 Oakland setback.

A second-round selection by the Athletics in the 2008 draft, Ross was named the organization's sixth-best prospect by Baseball America prior to the season and earned a spot in the big-league roster with a strong spring. The University of California product went 1-0 with one save and a 3.32 earned run average in 11 relief appearances prior to Saturday's start.

Jeremy Bonderman gets the call for Detroit this afternoon and is seeking to build off a strong performance against the New York Yankees a week ago. The former A's first-round pick worked a season-high seven innings and struck out seven while limiting the Bronx Bombers to two runs, but failed to receive any offensive support in a shutout loss on May 12.

The right-hander, who tossed a perfect inning of relief against Boston on Sunday in his most recent outing, has gone 0-2 in five starts since besting Cleveland with five frames of one-run ball in his 2010 debut on April 10. Bonderman hasn't performed well on the road this year, having posted an 0-1 record with a substandard 8.62 ERA in his three away starts, but is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA over four career visits to the Coliseum.

In seven overall starts against Oakland, a team he hasn't faced since 2006, Bonderman is 3-3 with a 3.77 ERA.