GDT2: 9/13/08 - DET (70-76) AT CWS (81-65) - Approx 8:00pm

GDT2: 9/13/08 - DET (70-76) AT CWS (81-65) - Approx 8:00pm

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09/12/2008 11:20 PM ET
Tigers hope to get Rogers back on hill
Detroit (70-76) at Chicago (81-65), DH, Saturday, 3:55 p.m. ET
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- The Tigers skipped Kenny Rogers for a turn through the rotation to allow him to rest and gear up for the White Sox on Saturday. Now, they'll have to hope that steady rain in the Windy City doesn't push his start back any longer.

After Friday's series opener was rained out, the Tigers and White Sox will try to play a doubleheader on Saturday, starting with an afternoon game on FOX and continuing with a nightcap 30 minutes after the first game finishes. It will be Rogers' first outing in more than a week.

Rogers last pitched on Sept. 4 against the Angels, who hit him around for six runs on eight hits in two innings before he was pulled after just 39 pitches.

It was then that questions began to surface regarding how the 43-year-old Rogers was feeling. However, Rogers said his arm felt very good and any soreness simply was the general aches and pains he usually gets at his age at this point of the season. His problem, he said, was coming down to a lack of adjustments to how hitters were approaching him.

Angels hitters were diving out over the outside corner to get to Rogers in his last outing, and pitching inside didn't get them off there.

"You have to make adjustments," Rogers said last week. "I haven't made enough recently to put good starts together. That's the name of the game."

He even suggested "inventing a pitch or two," but that isn't expected to happen. Instead, he'll likely work with what he has and try to hit his locations while keeping Chicago's dangerous hitters off balance by changing speeds.

Likewise, Zach Miner will be trying to rebound from a rough outing in his previous start. He gave up eight runs on 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings against the A's on Monday, using up 110 pitches in the process.

Miner was slated to have an extra day of rest before pitching Sunday's series finale, but he had to be moved up to pitch on Saturday. Since the Tigers and White Sox were preparing to begin Friday's game on time, both scheduled starters -- Justin Verlander and John Danks -- went through their full pregame warmups, almost like a side session. Thus, managers Jim Leyland and Ozzie Guillen wanted to get them a day of rest before gearing up again, rather than sending them back out through the same process.

The big changeup, however, could come from Mother Nature. Friday's rainout and a weekend forecast that isn't very promising forced a straight doubleheader on Saturday to try to get the series caught up. However, the forecast calls for even more showers and thunderstorms on Saturday as the temperatures cool to more fall-like conditions in the Chicago area.

If there's a way to play all three games this weekend, the teams will find it, because the alternative gets very complicated. The Tigers and White Sox have one more off-day each over the season's final two weeks, and they aren't on the same day. That theoretically could force a game to be made up on Sept. 29, the day after the close of the regular season, if the game has any postseason implications. Obviously, neither the Tigers nor White Sox want that to happen.

Pitching matchup

Game 2
DET: RHP Zach Miner (8-4, 4.29 ERA)
After Miner's outings in July and August became a godsend to the Tigers rotation, Miner is struggling down the stretch. The latest example came Monday against the A's, who roughed him up for eight runs on 11 hits and forced him to use 110 pitches over 4 1/3 innings. That outing alone bumped up his ERA by more than half a run. He has beaten the White Sox twice in as many starts, allowing three earned runs and no walks over 12 innings.

CWS: TBA
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen likely will give the ball to right-hander Lance Broadway for the nightcap. Broadway has made one previous start this season, getting the win over the Royals by allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings on Aug. 14. However, he has not been nearly as effective pitching out of the bullpen, as his 8.49 ERA indicates.

Tidbits

Outfielder Clete Thomas underwent successful Tommy John surgery Thursday to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. There's no official timetable for his return, but Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand
said it will be a lengthy rehab process. ... The weather conditions for this weekend do not look promising for the return of Carlos Guillen, who has been out since Aug. 25 with lower back stiffness. Guillen played catch Friday, but he was unable to take ground balls with the tarp on the field for much of pregame. He has done light swinging but has not taken batting practice.

On the Internet

MLB.TV

Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FOX/None

On radio
• 97.1FM/1270AM

Up next

• Sun., Sept 14: Tigers (Justin Verlander, 10-15, 4.78 ERA)) at White Sox (RHP Javier Vazquez, 11-13, 4.29 ERA)), 8:05 p.m. ET

• Mon., Sept 15: Tigers (LHP Dontrelle Willis, 0-1, 10.32 ERA)) at Rangers (RHP Vicente Padilla (13-7, 4.79 ERA)), 8:05 p.m. ET

• Tues., Sept 16: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 12-6, 3.58) at Rangers (Kevin Millwood, 9-9, 5.15), 8:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

71 degrees at Game Time

70 percent chance of Rain

WSW Winds 10mph