Verlander, Tigers look to sweep Blue Jays Sunday

DETROIT – Fourth of July weekend has been a strange one for the Detroit Tigers, who are coming off an 8-3 dismantling of the Toronto Blue Jays on the holiday afternoon.

After being blasted in a three-game sweep by the Pittsburgh Pirates during the week and falling back to .500, the Tigers took each of the first two games against the Blue Jays, scoring 16 runs and holding the league's best offense scoreless in 15 of the 18 innings.

Detroit, which lost Miguel Cabrera for at least six weeks due to a strained left calf he suffered on Friday, has seen its offense put up at least eight runs in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season.

Justin Verlander will try to complete the weekend sweep on Sunday, taking the mound for the fourth time since coming off the disabled list with a triceps injury. Verlander has underwhelmed in his first three starts, allowing 10 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings and striking out just seven batters. He'll look for his first win of the season against a lineup that has had success against him in his career.

First Pitch: 1:08 p.m. on FSD

Here's the Jays' starting nine:

Jose Reyes, SS
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Justin Smoak, 1B
Russell Martin, C
Danny Valencia, LF
Kevin Pillar, CF
Devon Travis, 2B

Toronto's top three hitters are a combined 13-38 (.342) against Verlander in his career with three doubles and one home run. Encarnacion has just three hits in 18 at-bats against the former MVP, but two of those hits were home runs.

Smoak, Martin and Valencia have also dominated JV in limited at-bats, going 14-40 (,.350) with three homers. Pillar and Travis have never faced Verlander.

The 32-year-old righty couldn't find his command early in his last start, walking three Pirates in the first inning and five overall. He settled down a bit after the third inning, allowing just a single and hitting two batters from the fourth to the sixth. He came out after a leadoff walk in the seventh, finishing with six hits allowed and three strikeouts.

Toronto will send out right-hander Marco Estrada, who has made 11 starts since spending April in the Blue Jays' bullpen. Estrada allowed just one run in 10 2/3 innings as a reliever and settled back into his starting role in June, going 4-1 with a 3.25 ERA.

Estrada is coming off his shortest start of the season, a 2 1/3-inning effort in which he walked four and allowed three hits. The 32-year-old walked in two runs in the first inning and got pulled in the third inning after allowing a pair of hits that included a David Ortiz 445-foot home run.

The longtime Milwaukee Brewer has never pitched against the Tigers in his eight-year career. J.D. Martinez has one hit in six career at-bats against Estrada, while Yoenis Cespedes is 2-3.

Detroit's lineup is similar to the one that scored eight runs on Saturday, with Jose Iglesias returning to the No. 9 spot, replacing Josh Wilson:

Ian Kinsler, 2B
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Victor Martinez, DH
J.D. Martinez, RF
Alex Avila, 1B
Nick Castellanos, 3B
James McCann, C
Anthony Gose, CF
Jose Iglesias, SS

The Tigers will fly to Seattle Sunday for a three-game series against the Mariners starting on Monday. The final four games of the first half will come against the Twins in Minnesota.