Kenny Rogers (2-3, 6.75) vs. Boof Bonser (2-4, 3.75)

Last night, Craig Monroe got some revenge on his old team.  (Hopefully, that helps the smooth out the bitterness, C-Mo.)  Is it too much to ask for the Detroit Tigers to now get some runs?  They've only scored two this weekend against the Twins, and Jim Leyland thinks his lineup has been lethargic too many times at the plate this season.  He can't shake up his batting order drastically, but might try to put in a little more speed to get things moving on the basepaths. 

With Gary Sheffield already scheduled to sit out today's game, and Leyland wanting to give Ryan Raburn a start, Leyland might switch Magglio Ordonez to DH today and play Raburn in right field.  It seems like he has to try something, because as Kurt pointed out at Mack Avenue Tigers, Detroit struggles against really good pitching, and they'll see more of it this afternoon at the Metrodome.

Boof Bonser doesn't have the won-loss record to show for it, but his ERA provides an indication that he's been pitching well.  In his last start, Bonser held the White Sox to just one run over seven innings, and before that, Oakland only managed two runs and three hits in six innings.  He's won both of his career starts against the Tigers, each of them in Minnesota, though the Tigers got to him for four runs in five innings last May.

Last Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, Kenny Rogers showed that reports of him being toast may have been exaggerated.  It was a short-handed Yankees lineup and he walked four batters, but given Rogers' career struggles in the Bronx and the Tigers' need for a quality start, that shouldn't harsh his mellow.  Over his career, Rogers has pitched well at the Metrodome (15-7, 3.90), but his last visit in 2006 wasn't very successful, as the Twins hung five runs on him in five innings.

How about winning a game on Sunday for the first time this season?