Tigers take on first-place Dodgers Tuesday

Verlander makes first career start against Dodgers

DETROIT – The Los Angeles Dodgers will visit Detroit for a short two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday in the two teams' final regular-season meeting of 2014. The Tigers are coming off a tough series in which they lost the final three games to the Tampa Bay Rays by a total score of 20-8.

On Tuesday Detroit will look for Justin Verlander to help end the losing skid. Verlander has been better in the last two outings, but his former dominance is still eluding him. He earned his first win since May on Wednesday, and owns a respectable 3.75 ERA over the past two starts.

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TV: 7:08 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SNLA (Los Angeles), FSN Detroit

The Dodgers are the only team in baseball (besides the Tigers) that Verlander has never pitched against during his nine-year career. Only the former Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford owns an average over .230 against Verlander on the LA roster.

Second-year starter Hyun-Jin Ryu will face Detroit for the first time Tuesday, hoping to pick up his 10th win of the season. Ryu owns a 3.08 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 16 starts.

Wednesday's finale will be during the afternoon before the Tigers travel to Kansas City and finish the first half with a four-game series against the second-place Royals.