Mike Maroth (4-2, 4.91) vs. 
Matt Chico (3-4, 4.66), 7:05 p.m. EST
How's this for extremes? The Tigers go from the coat closet of Citizens Bank Park to RFK Stadium, the dimensions of which should bring back unpleasant memories to anyone who hit in Comerica Park before the left-field fence was moved in. (The Nats' new park should be pretty nice, however.)
If Maroth doesn't already have the nickname of Houdini, someone should consider giving it to him. Because I don't know how he only allowed one run to Milwaukee last Wednesday. He gave up nine hits and four walks in his seven innings. Chalk it up to the double play ball and some bad base-running by the Brewers.
I won't say Chico has been the man, because that would be just terrible, but he's been very good over his last four starts. Unfortunately, he didn't get the win in either of those games.
And our old friend Dmitri Young might say he doesn't care about facing his former team, but the Tigers should care about pitching to him. As I write this, he's third in the National League in batting average (.333), ninth in on-base percentage (.394), and 15th in OPS. Right now, he might be swinging the hottest bat in the majors.
Your SB Nation opposing view for this series can be found at Federal Baseball. And we'll be hearing a lot more from Basil tomorrow.
Short Hops:
▪▪ The Eulogio De La Cruz era begins tonight for the Tigers. He was called up from Triple-A Toledo this afternoon, taking the place of Yorman Bazardo, who was sent back down.
De La Cruz (or as he's known at The Dugout, "ay you yu-gi-oh") was 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in 8 2/3 innings at Toledo. (The remainder of his 71 innings were pitched over 10 starts at Double-A Erie.)
▪▪ Take a wild guess as to who the American League Player of the Week is.