Porcello, Tigers battle Rangers Saturday afternoon

Porcello leads Tigers with seven wins

DETROIT – After snapping a season-high four-game losing streak with a 7-2 win on Friday night, the Detroit Tigers (28-16) will turn to Rick Porcello, who is looking for his eighth win of the year, to keep the team rolling.

The Tiger bats woke up against the Texas Rangers (23-25) on Friday with 10 hits, six of them for extra bases. Ian Kinsler crushed his former team by roping three doubles and scoring three runs.

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Austin Jackson snapped out of a cold spell by hitting a two-run home run in the second inning to get Detroit on the board and tie the game. The Tigers never looked back, adding on runs behind a strong start by Anibal Sanchez for his second win of the year.

Detroit will look to stay hot against 23-year-old Nick Martinez Saturday, as the rookie makes his fourth start of the season. Martinez spent most of May in the bullpen, but re-entered the rotation with a 2.38 ERA on May 18. The righty held Toronto to one run in five innings and sports a 2.28 ERA entering his start against Detroit.

Though the Tigers have never seen Texas' young starter, the Rangers are familiar with the 25-year-old Porcello. In six career regular-season starts, Porcello owns a 3-3 record against the Rangers, but allowed at least six runs in three of those starts. Last May he held the Rangers scoreless into the fifth inning before allowing just a solo home run to Geovany Soto in a winning effort.

Two Texas sluggers own impressive numbers against Porcello, as Adrian Beltre hits .375 off of the righty and Shin-Soo Choo hits .321. Alex Rios saw Porcello 38 times throughout his career with the White Sox and hit three home runs off of him despite just a .211 average.

Detroit's victory Friday night put it back atop the MLB standings after Oakland fell for the second straight game. The Tigers own a 5.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.