While a Justin Verlander start against the Oakland Athletics typically delivers good fortune to the Detroit Tigers, the latest comes against a pitcher currently riding better early-season luck.
Verlander hopes to reverse his own against the cruising Sonny Gray when the Tigers host the Athletics on Wednesday night (6 pregame, 7:10 first pitch on FOX Sports Detroit).
Verlander (1-2, 5.79 ERA) has dominated Oakland the last 4 1/2 years, surrendering eight earned runs over 10 starts. He's posted a 1.04 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in that span, aided by a shutout and two more scoreless outings spanning eight innings.
In those 10 games, Oakland (11-10) mustered only 39 hits in 69 innings against the former AL Cy Young Award winner while striking out 75 times.
Those numbers look far better than the ones Verlander holds through the first four starts of his 12th MLB season for Detroit (9-10). Although he has three quality starts, Verlander owns a 1.37 WHIP while opposing hitters are batting .276 with five home runs.
Most of the damage came when he coughed up seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 7-4 loss to Pittsburgh on April 11. Verlander has allowed five runs in 13 innings since, though all of them came via four long balls.
Still, manager Brad Ausmus liked what he saw from Verlander in Friday's 2-1 loss to Cleveland. He became the second Detroit starter to complete seven innings, limiting the Indians to four hits - two of which were homers - while walking two and whiffing 10 for his first double-digit strikeout game since July 29.
"Verlander was outstanding. He really was," Ausmus told the team's official website. "One of the better games he's thrown in the last year and a half."
While Verlander has owned most Oakland hitters of recent memory, Billy Butler is likely to earn a Wednesday start based on his gaudy numbers against the right-hander, largely while with Kansas City from 2007-14.
Butler is the hitter with the most career at-bats (84) and hits (34) against Verlander. He has a pair of home runs and five doubles, and his .405 average is second to only Salvador Perez's .477 of players with more than 21 at-bats.
Gray and Verlander matched up twice in the 2013 AL division series, each side winning once en route to Detroit's five-game win.
Gray (3-1, 2.73 ERA) holds a 2.33 ERA in four career starts against the Tigers and held them to two hits in eight innings his last outing in June.
The right-hander has opened 2016 strong with four quality starts. He tossed seven innings in Friday's 8-5 win in Toronto, holding one of MLB's best lineups to six hits and three runs while striking out a season-high seven.
"It's incredible to play defense behind him," left fielder Khris Davis said. "Every time he's out there, he gives us a chance to win, no doubt about that."
Gray's third straight victory would give Oakland its fifth in its last six games at Comerica Park, where the Tigers are 3-6. The Athletics are 8-3 away from home.
Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 4 with two home runs in Monday's 7-3 series-opening win, and he is 5 for 11 lifetime against Gray with a pair of homers.
An MLB spokesman confirmed before Oakland's 5-1 win Tuesday that Detroit outfielder Tyler Collins will not face a suspension for his obscene gesture in Monday. He waved his left middle finger at booing fans after a fly ball he lost in the lights dropped.
