Johan Santana (3-2, 3.44) vs. Mike Maroth (2-0, 5.06)
With the possibility of a Minnesota sweep, the Tigers could harsh the mellow of what's been a good weekend (Wings win, Pistons win, Lions draft players - which may as well be a win) for Detroit sports fans. Detroit, of course, hopes to avoid losing three straight to a division opponent and falling to .500, but they'll have to beat the league's most imposing broom and dustpan.
Glancing at his record, you might think Santana's once again working to find himself in April, but as Thank You Brian Sabean pointed out in our Q&A on Friday, his strikeout and walk numbers show that he's pitching better than he usually does to start the season. The Twins just weren't able to give him any run support in those two losses.
Maroth had trouble finding the strike zone in his last start, and couldn't even make it out of the fifth inning. I thought he was trying too hard to avoid Vladimir Guerrero and nibbling on the corners far too much, but Billfer followed up on a comment by Mario Impemba and showed that Maroth is having problems with his release point. Let me put on my Captain Obvious hat and say that the Tigers really need him to find it today.