The Detroit Tigers will have Justin Verlander on the mound for their Fourth of July road contest against the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:07 p.m. ET.
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Via ESPN:
Verlander (8-5, 3.77 ERA) posted a 4.85 ERA, but received an average 11.08 runs of support to win four straight starts May 22-June 7. In four outing since, his teammates have scored nine runs with the right-hander on the mound while he's gone 0-1 with a 3.96 ERA.
He went winless in five starts Aug. 27-Sept. 20, 2008, for Detroit (45-38).
Verlander gave up three runs and nine hits in eight innings of a 4-3, 10-inning loss at Tampa Bay on Saturday. Though he could not hold an early 3-0 lead, manager Jim Leyland was pleased with the performance.
"I thought that was the best that he's thrown in a long time," Leyland told the Tigers' official website.
He threw exceptionally well at Toronto on May 7, 2011, when he struck out four and walked one while facing the minimum in a 9-0 victory. It came less than four years after Verlander no-hit Milwaukee on June 12, 2007.
Verlander is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts versus Toronto after he went 0-2 with an 11.40 ERA in his first three.
He'll again have a tough act to follow after Max Scherzer pitched into the seventh to become the first pitcher in 27 years to go 13-0 after Detroit's 6-2 win Wednesday. Victor Martinez and Alex Avila each homered as the Tigers won their second straight since losing six of seven.
Toronto (41-43) has allowed an average of 4.6 runs while going 3-7 since it gave up 2.5 during an 11-game winning streak. The Blue Jays had nine hits but stranded eight runners and committed three errors Wednesday.
They last dropped a home set May 3-5 to Seattle.
