First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York -125, Detroit +115, Total: 8.5

Two American League teams, the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, do battle in the Bronx as they attempt to stay in contention in their respective divisions.

The Tigers have shown a ton of inconsistency in the 2015 season, but seem to be coming around as the weather begins to heat up and are 6-4 in their last 10 games played. They failed to do much in their recent three against the Reds, though, and after winning the first contest by a score of 6-0, failed to win each of the next two by a combined score of 13-6. Thursday’s game was postponed, so their last contest was on Wednesday and they lost a heartbreaker after 3B Todd Frazier broke a 4-4 tie in the 13th inning with a grand slam. Three of their runs came off of a three-run homer from 1B Miguel Cabrera (.342) who is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, going 11-for-22 (.500) with two doubles, three home runs, 12 RBIs and six runs during the stretch. The Yankees have been very streaky this year and that has been seen in the month of June as they started it out with seven consecutive wins, but are just 3-5 since while sitting a game back in the AL East standings. Recently, they played four straight against the Marlins, losing the first two on the road, but then sweeping them in the two contests in New York. The Yankees offense put up a solid performance in Thursday’s 9-4 victory, tallying 15 hits as all 10 players who had an at-bat got on base. DH Alex Rodriguez (.278) put himself just a hit away from 3,000 with his 2-for-4 night and has multi-hit games in three of his last six outings. On the mound to start in this one will be RHP Justin Verlander (0-0, 3.60 ERA) for the visitors as he takes on RHP Adam Warren (4-4, 3.78 ERA) of New York. Detroit hasn’t been horrible on the road with its 16-14 record away from home as the Yankees are 18-11 when playing in the Bronx. These clubs have seen each other plenty over the past three seasons with New York holding a 10-7 edge overall and are 5-2 at home during that time. This year, the Yankees were able to take 3-of-4 games in Detroit, outscoring them 21-9. Trends show that when Simon is pitching during the first half of the season since the start of last year, his teams are 22-7 (.759) while the Tigers are a meager 15-23 (.395) in night games this year. C Alex Avila (Knee) and DH Victor Martinez (Knee) continue to ride the DL for Detroit as New York is without the services of OF Jacoby Ellsbury (Knee) and closer Andrew Miller (Forearm).

Justin Verlander made his first start of the season on Jun. 13, and he pitched five innings and only allowed two earned runs. The former ace threw 87 pitches in the game and should be able to go a little deeper into the game in his second start. Over the past three seasons, Verlander is just 1-3 against the Yankees but his ERA is just 3.46 in those games. He’ll have to find a way to avoid the bat of 3B Alex Rodriguez, who is 10-for-28 with four homers and 9 RBIs lifetime against him. The Detroit bullpen has improved over past years and is 9-7 with a 3.36 ERA (1.28 WHIP) while saving 17-of-26 (65%) games. Joakim Soria (2.45 ERA, 16 saves) has now allowed three homers in his last four appearances (3 IP), but has shown impressive control overall with a 20:4 K/BB ratio in his 25.2 innings on the year.

Warren was formally an effective reliever and in 2014 he pitched in 69 games (78.2 IP) with a 2.97 ERA and a strikeout rate of 8.7 K/9. The necessity for starters pushed him into the Yanks rotation and the results have been positive thus far as New York has won three of his past four outings. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last seven starts as he begins to work deeper into games. The 27-year-old has not been able to strike out as many batters (5.6 K/9) as when he was coming out of the bullpen, but he has benefitted from hitters going .257 BABIP against. His only start against Detroit came earlier this year when he earned the win after a subpar outing (5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 K) as the offense scored 13 runs. SS Jose Iglesias is not really known for his bat, but is 4-for-6 with an RBI against Warren in his career. On the other hand, OF J.D. Martinez, 2B Ian Kinsler and OF Yoenis Cespedes are a collective 2-for-18 (.111) with five strikeouts. The Yankees relievers have been solid in 2015, going 11-7 with a 3.26 ERA (1.18 WHIP) and have successfully saved 22-of-26 (85%) contests. Dellin Betances (0.26 ERA, 4 saves) is currently filling in for Miller, but has been equally as dominant in the ninth as the lefty and has 57 strikeouts over 35 innings this year (14.7 K/9).