Jeremy Bonderman (7-0, 3.92) vs. 
Mike Bacsik (1-4, 4.59), 7:05 p.m. EST
One guy's working on eight in a row, the other is hoping to avoid five in a row.
Both starting pitchers are dealing with personal streaks. Bonderman has won seven straight starts, and if notches an eighth, he'll be the first Tigers starting pitcher to do that in eight years. (Your trivia answer for the day is Dave Mlicki. Go out and impress your friends with that.)
And the Nationals infielders better make sure they play in tight when Bondo's at the plate. Or maybe they haven't seen that infield hit he legged out on Friday night in Philadelphia. Play him the same way you'd play Jose Reyes, Ryan Zimmerman.
As you might expect from someone who's lost his last four starts, Bacsik hasn't been very good lately. In the first of those four, he could've pointed to a lack of run support. Since then, however, he's been serving up batting practice. One can only imagine that Bacsik's been curled up in a closet, having to be dragged out by Manny Acta and his staff after watching the smackdown the Tigers lineup has brought upon the Nationals' pitching staff.
Oh, and did we mention Bacsik is left-handed? Meat. Unless you're Jamie Moyer, you're probably in for a long night (Or would that be a short night?) against the juggernaut that is the Detroit Tigers' batting order.
Short Hops:
▪▪ Placido Polanco will be out of the lineup tonight, as previously scheduled by Jim Leyland.
▪▪ If you haven't heard about the trade the Tigers made earlier today, Mark has you covered in the post below.
▪▪ Finally, condolences to Robert Fick, who lost his mother to lung cancer yesterday. All accounts indicate that Fick expected this to happen soon, but I'm not sure if you're ever ready to lose a loved one.