Tigers Vs. Pirates: Bucs Face Much Tougher Pitching Matchups Against Detroit

After taking two of three from the Minnesota Twins, the Pirates now host the Detroit Tigers for a three-game set in their last interleague series of the year.

The Tigers should prove to be a much tougher matchup than the Twins were. At 34-35, they don't have an impressive record, but the pitching matchups are tricky. On Friday (7:05), A.J. Burnett takes on Doug Fister. Fister is just returning from the disabled list after a side injury, but he's pitched well all year, and he had six scoreless innings against the Rockies in his return.

On Saturday (4:05), it's Max Scherzer and Brad Lincoln. Lincoln's tenure in the rotation hasn't gone well at all this year, and he's probably much better suited for the bullpen in the long term. He has a 7.64 ERA as a starter, versus 0.45 as a reliever.

On Sunday (1:35), Justin Verlander takes on Kevin Correia for a matchup that's probably even more one-sided than Thursday night's Liam Hendriks / James McDonald matchup was. Verlander almost no-hit the Pirates when he faced them back in May.

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