One guy who has fared well is Miguel Cabrera, 8-for-16 against him. If he homers tonight, he’ll tie his career-best streak of four consecutive games with a home run, set back in 2004 with the Marlins. If you’re playing Beat the Streak, it’s tough not to pick him between the matchups and the way he’s going.

You can follow the game online via Gameday, watch online through MLB.TV or listen on MLB.com Gameday Audio. Locally, you can watch on Fox Sports Detroit and listen on 97.1 FM AM 1270.

As for the weather forecast … well, considering how off it was last night, let’s just not even get into it.

TIGERS

1. Omar Infante, 2B (2-for-7, HR off Scott Diamond)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (1-for-6, 2 K’s off Diamond)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (8-for-16, HR, 2 K’s off Diamond)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (1-for-11, walk, 4 K’s off Diamond)
5. Victor Martinez, DH (1-for-8 off Diamond)
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS (3-for-15, 2 walks, K off Diamond)
7. Matt Tuiasosopo, LF (0-for-2 off Diamond)
8. Brayan Pena, C (0-for-5, 3 K’s off Diamond)
9. Avisail Garcia, CF (1-for-5, walk, K off Diamond)

P: Rick Porcello

TWINS

1. Jamey Carroll, 3B (7-for-19, walk against Rick Porcello)
2. Joe Mauer, C (7-for-27, 3 walks, 2 K’s against Porcello)
3. Josh Willingham, LF (6-for-10, HR, 4 walks, K against Porcello)
4. Justin Morneau, DH (6-for-26, HR, 2 walks, 3 K’s against Porcello)
5. Ryan Doumit, RF (4-for-10, walk, K against Porcello)
6. Chris Parmelee, 1B (0-for-2, K against Porcello)
7. Brian Dozier, 2B (3-for-5, HR against Porcello)
8. Aaron Hicks, CF (0-for-3 against Porcello)
9. Pedro Florimon Jr., SS (0-for-2 against Porcello)

P: Scott Diamond

He did not think he had hit that ball out to center field. Technically, he was right.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I was like so surprised. Wow, that’s the first time that happened to me. It doesn’t happen very often.”

For someone with the power to hit the ball out to all fields, and often with tape-measure distance. That’s saying something.

It was a first for Michael Bourn, too.

“Never had it happen, man,” he said. “I guess they say first time for everything, huh?”

It’s not a first for many Tigers who fans, who remember Miguel Olivo getting a home run off the bounce from Ryan Raburn’s glove in left field two years ago. This was the flip side for them, and because it was Cabrera’s homer for two huge insurance runs, it was that much bigger.

“It’s one of those freak things that happens,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “You see that now and then. You don’t see it that often. That was just a freaky game.”

Cabrera’s four homers over his previous two games included two line drives that carried out to center field. This one off sidearming lefty Rich Hill went out to center, but more on a fly ball that seemingly hung in the air and gained distance.

Bourn had spent most of the evening running down drives all over center and left-center field, stealing at least two extra-base hits in the process to slow the Tigers offense a bit. He had Cabrera’s fly ball lined up better than any of those, and had seemingly timed his reach — not even a jump so much as a reach.

“I watched it,” Cabrera said. “I said he got it and then the last time I looked back, it wasn’t the same.”

Bourn was direct about it.

“I just missed it,” Bourn said. “There wasn’t no excuses. I had my balance, I was good and it just came out of my glove.”

That’s the thing. The ball was right in Bourn’s glove before it popped out. It wasn’t much of a deflection.

“I don’t know how it came outta there,” Bourn said, “but it did. And then it bounced over the wall. That’s the thing about it. I could see if it stayed in play, but it went over the wall. It happened.”

The look when Cabrera realized it was over the wall resembled a game-show contestant who wins a prize on a lucky guess. He was still smiling in the dugout about it as he recreated the swing.

“I thought it was an out there,” Cabrera said. “I was very lucky there. It’s better to be lucky than good.”

Considering he’s a home run away from leading all three of the Triple Crown categories again says he’s pretty good, too. Only Baltimore’s Chris Davis, with 14 home runs, has more than Cabrera’s 13 among American League hitters. His 52nd RBI put him 11 up on the next AL competitor, also Davis.

It also marked the 10th time in Cabrera’s career that he has homered in three consecutive games. If he can homer Thursday against the Twin, he’ll tie his career-best four-game homer streak set April 10-14, 2004 as a Florida Marlin.

Alex Avila, 1-for-21 in his last seven games, gets the night off with Justin Verlander on the mound. Brayan Pena, a switch-hitter who normally gets against lefties, is behind the plate for Verlander for the fourth time this season.

Not a whole lot of good numbers by Tigers off Jimenez. Miguel Cabrera’s 13-for-38 includes a 10-for-30 clip since Jimenez jumped to the American League. Fielder, despite the lefty strength, went 4-for-16 against him last year before doubling off him in Detroit a few weeks ago. I went with Cabrera in Beat the Streak, for what it’s worth.

You can follow the game online via Gameday, watch online through MLB.TV or listen on MLB.com Gameday Audio. Locally, you can watch on Fox Sports Detroit and listen on 97.1 FM.

The Indians, meanwhile, present us with our first matchup between Verlander and former Tiger Ryan Raburn. Michael Brantley, 11-for-26 lifetime against Verlander, is batting cleanup.

TIGERS

1. Andy Dirks, LF (4-for-24, 5 K’s off Jimenez)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (2-for-13, 2 K’s off Jimenez)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (13-for-38, HR, 6 walks, 6 K’s off Jimenez)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (10-for-35, 6 walks, 7 K’s off Jimenez)
5. Victor Martinez, DH (6-for-18, 2 HR, 1 walk, 2 K’s off Jimenez)
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS (7-for-23, HR, 4 walks, 2 K’s off Jimenez)
7. Brayan Pena, C (4-for-5 off Jimenez)
8. Don Kelly, CF (2-for-11, walk, K off Jimenez)
9. Omar Infante, 2B (3-for-14, 3 K’s off Jimenez)

P: Justin Verlander

INDIANS

1. Michael Bourn, CF (2-for-5 off Verlander)
2. Jason Kipnis, 2B (2-for-12, 4 walks, 4 K’s off Verlander)
3. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS (8-for-47, 4 walks, 19 K’s off Verlander)
4. Michael Brantley, LF (11-for-26, 3 walks, 3 K’s off Verlander)
5. Carlos Santana, 1B (4-for-20, 2 HR, 4 walks, 4 K’s off Verlander)
6. Jason Giambi, DH (4-for-17, 2 HR, 2 walks, 9 K’s off Verlander)
7. Michael Reynolds, 3B (3-for-15, HR, 9 K’s off Verlander)
8. Ryan Raburn, RF
9. Yan Gomes, C

P: Ubaldo Jimenez

He didn’t see it. He heard the swing and the crowd reaction and knew what happened. But he has seen plenty of them over the years. He knows enough about them to realize if he could hold the Indians down after their first-inning run, he had a very good chance of ending up on top.

“Their starter was throwing the ball well, keeping our hitters at bay. I just knew if I could continue to throw up zeroes, eventually we’ll get to him,” Scherzer said. “I just have confidence in our hitters like that, because they’re so good. At any point, they can strike.

“Tonight was a perfect example. Dirks hits a home run, Torii hits a double and then Miggy hits a bomb, and all of a sudden, we’re losing 1-0, now we’re up 3-1. That’s what makes us so dangerous.”

That’s what makes Scherzer’s outings so production. With eight innings of one-run ball, he’s 6-0 for the second time in three years.

It was an unusual outing for him. It’s not that he has never been on a roll like that before, but his roll of 22 consecutive outs began without a strikeout for the first 10 hitters of that stretch. In most outings, he gets into rolls like that because of the strikeout, even if it costs him pitches. Then he struck out seven of the last 12.

“I was throwing the ball well tonight. I thought Alex [Avila] and I were sequencing [pitches well],” Scherzer said. “They did hit a couple balls hard at people. That’s just baseball. Today they got caught. And the other batters, I did a good job of locating the ball in and away and changing speeds. I thought that’s what allowed me to be successful tonight.”

Scherzer tried to be less predictable, throwing back-to-back changeups when hitters might be expecting fastballs, or throwing his recently-developed curveball more often against left-handed hitters. All of his pitches were working, he felt.

He felt like he settled into a groove as soon as the leadoff hitter in the second inning, Jason Giambi, who fouled out behind third base on a 3-1 pitch.

“I felt I was able to slow the game, take a deep breath and execute that 3-1 pitch,” Scherzer said. “I felt like after that, I was able to settle down and locate my fastball. From then, I was able to execute pitches. I felt like I had all four pitches, fastball, curveball, changeup, slider. That’s what allowed me to be successful.”

For those watching, it looked like playing catch at times. For Scherzer, his groove was a thought process more than anything.

“For me, you’re just concentrating on which hitter’s up and the sequencing you need to do, what pitches you want to start him with and what pitches you want to finish him,” Scherzer said. “You’re constantly working with Alex, what his game plan is, what my game plan is, how we wanted to attack them. Tonight I felt like we did a good job of blending the two games together. There’s times I trusted him and there’s times I felt like I had the right pitch. And between the two of us, we were able to consistently throw the right pitch. When you have that type of execution, good things can happen.”

Play of the game: It would be difficult not to give that honor to Cabrera for his go-ahead two-run homer on a pitch diving down and away. Check out the game story for more.

Outs of the game: Scherzer told manager Jim Leyland he was fine to pitch the eighth, and he didn’t disappoint. Knowing it was his last inning, he combined his adrenaline with his philosophy that the last 15 pitches are the most important of the game. He then proceeded to strike out of the bottom third of the Indians lineup in order.

“I definitely had the adrenaline flowing in that situation,” Scherzer said. “With Giambi up, you know he’s a great hitter, anytime he can strike. I think I started him off with two changeups and was able to finish him with a fastball. Those types of sequencing in those type of at-bats, when you go back in that situation when you know that’s your last inning, to go back and throw as hard as you can, you try to collect outs.”

Strategy: After Torii Hunter’s ninth-inning groundout advanced Andy Dirks and Omar Infante to second and third base, respectively, Terry Francona opted to intentionally walk Cabrera and take his chances against Prince Fielder. Fielder’s single scored another vital insurance run, making it a 5-1 game. It’s the second time in four games Fielder has followed an intentional walk to Cabrera with an RBI hit.

Line of the night: Scherzer’s pitching’s line was just outanding — 8 innings, 2 hits, a run, a walk and 7 strikeouts.

Stat of the night: 28 — career home runs for Miguel Cabrera against Cleveland, most for him against any opponent.

Print it: “He’s a hard guy to get out. No matter when he’s up there, no matter what the situation is, he’s a tough guy to get out. When he grinds that at-bat out, it’s something to see.” — Jim Leyland on Cabrera

On the Indians side, Nick Swisher is out of the lineup tonight after his wife gave birth earlier today. He has been placed on the paternity leave list. No word yet whether he’ll go on the paternity list.

You’ve got a couple of good choices if you want to play a Tiger in MLB.com’s Beat the Streak game. Both Miguel Cabrera and Omar Infante have very good numbers off Corey Kluber. Cabrera is coming off a red-hot series in Texas, while Peralta is facing his old team. That said, Peralta went just 1-for-27 at Progressive Field last season. I still went with Peralta.

You can follow the game online via Gameday, watch online through MLB.TV or listen on MLB.com Gameday Audio. Locally, you can watch on Fox Sports Detroit and listen on 97.1 FM.

TIGERS

1. Andy Dirks, CF (2-for-11, 3 K’s off Kluber)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (1-for-3, K off Kluber)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (4-for-9, HR, walk, 3 K’s off Kluber)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (2-for-7, HR off Kluber)
5. Victor Martinez, DH (0-for-3, walk off Kluber)
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS (4-for-7, walk, K off Kluber)
7. Matt Tuiasosopo, LF
8. Alex Avila, C (2-for-7, walk, 2 K’s off Kluber)
9. Omar Infante, 2B (2-for-6 off Kluber)

P: Max Scherzer

INDIANS

1. Michael Bourn, CF (1-for-11, walk, 4 K’s vs. Scherzer)
2. Jason Kipnis, 2B (3-for-14, 2 walks, 4 K’s vs. Scherzer)
3. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS (7-for-29, HR, 2 walks, 11 K’s vs. Scherzer)
4. Michael Brantley, LF (7-for-25, HR, walk, K vs. Scherzer)
5. Carlos Santana, C (3-for-23, 4 walks, 3 K’s vs. Scherzer)
6. Mark Reynolds, 1B (0-for-8, walk, 5 K’s vs. Scherzer)
7. Jason Giambi, DH (0-for-3, 2 K’s vs. Scherzer)
8. Mike Aviles, 3B (4-for-10, K vs. Scherzer)
9. Drew Stubbs, RF (0-for-3, K vs. Scherzer)

P: Corey Kluber

The Rangers put Ian Kinsler on the 15-day DL on Sunday and called up top prospect Jurickson Profar to take his place. Profar, however, won’t be starting tonight. Leury Garcia gets another start at second, batting ninth. Meanwhile, Craig Gentry gets a start in center field, giving Leonys Martin the night off.

Check out David Murphy’s numbers against Doug Fister.

TIGERS

1. Omar Infante, 2B (2-for-4 off Holland)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (10-for-34, 2 HR, 5 walks, 7 K’s off Holland)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (2-for-9, HR, walk, 4 K’s off Holland)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (0-for-3 off Holland)
5. Victor Martinez, DH (2-for-6, HR off Holland)
6. Matt Tuiasosopo, LF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS (3-for-8, HR, K off Holland)
8. Brayan Pena, C (2-for-5, 2 HR, walk, K off Holland)
9. Avisail Garcia, CF

P: Doug Fister

RANGERS

1. Elvis Andrus, SS (5-for-24, walk, K vs. Fister)
2. David Murphy, LF (8-for-18, 4 HR, K vs. Fister)
3. Lance Berkman, DH
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B (6-for-17, K vs. Fister)
5. Nelson Cruz, RF (7-for-19, HR, 2 walks, K vs. Fister)
6. Mitch Moreland, 1B (1-for-11, K vs. Fister)
7. Geovany Soto, C
8. Craig Gentry, CF
9. Leury Garcia, 2B

P: Derek Holland

On the Rangers side, David Murphy moves up to the second spot against Anibal Sanchez, with Leury Garcia dropping down to the bottom.

TIGERS

1. Andy Dirks, LF
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (2-for-2 off Grimm)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (0-for-2, K off Grimm)
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS (1-for-1 off Grimm)
8. Omar Infante, 2B
9. Avisail Garcia, CF

P: Anibal Sanchez

RANGERS

1. Elvis Andrus, SS (0-for-7, 2 K’s against Sanchez)
2. David Murphy, LF (1-for-3 against Sanchez)
3. Lance Berkman, DH (5-for-13, 3 walks, 2 K’s against Sanchez)
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B (2-for-3, K against Sanchez)
5. Nelson Cruz, RF (1-for-2, HR, K against Sanchez)
6. Mitch Moreland, 1B (0-for-2, K against Sanchez)
7. Robinson Chirinos, C
8. Leonys Martin, CF
9. Leury Garcia, 2B

P: Justin Grimm

Ramon Santiago gets the start at second, giving Omar Infante a day off.

On the Rangers side, Ian Kinsler is out with bruised ribs. Leury Garcia starts in his place.

TIGERS

1. Andy Dirks, LF
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Don Kelly, CF
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

P: Rick Porcello

RANGERS

1. Elvis Andrus, SS (2-for-14 vs. Porcello)
2. Leury Garcia, 2B
3. Lance Berkman, DH
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B (5-for-18, 2 K’s vs. Porcello)
5. Nelson Cruz, RF (4-for-18, 6 K’s vs. Porcello)
6. Mitch Moreland, 1B (3-for-6, K vs. Porcello)
7. Geovany Soto, C (3-for-5, HR vs. Porcello)
8. David Murphy, LF (9-for-15, HR, walk, K vs. Porcello)
9. Leonys Martin, CF (0-for-2 vs. Porcello)

P: Nick Tepesch

The bad news? They have no idea where it’s going. Neither, for that matter, did Verlander.

His fastball had been averaging just over 92 mph, according to STATS, and had topped out at 98 a couple starts ago. On Thursday, his fastball averaged 96, and at least according to brooksbaseball.net, hit 100 for the first time this season. The pitch in question registered at 99 on MLB.com Gameday as well as on the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast, so there’s some question about that.

He threw 20 pitches at 95 or harder, 17 of them in that disastrous third inning alone. But he wasn’t locating many of them.

A look at the pitch-by-pitch data on Gameday shows that of those 17 95+ mph fastballs, seven were balls, six were fouled off, two were swings and misses (including that Lance Berkman strikeout on a pitch to the backstop), and one was a called first-pitch strike. The last was the Geovany Soto home run.

A look at the line graph on pitch velocities from brooksbaseball shows just how much Verlander cranked up his fastball and shrugged off his offspeed as that third inning unfolded. He pretty much ditched the curveball in that last inning in favor of fastballs and sliders, with the occasional changeup.

To compare a 30-year-old Verlander to the kid who broke into the league in 2006 might be a little unfair. Just comparing Verlander this year to what he did the past couple seasons, though, reveals some differences, not just from velocity.

The fastball velocity has been well-documented. More subtle is that he actually has been using his fastball slightly more than last year — 58 percent of his pitches this season, according to STATS, compared with 56% last year and 57% in 2011. His strike percentage on his fastball is slightly down, from 68% to 67%, but still strong.

The results from hitters are where the difference shows. Hitters are swinging and missing at a 17.5% rate on his fastballs, down from last year but about the same as 2011. Yet he’s getting hitters to chase his fastball out of the strike zone at a much higher rate than last year, and miss at a higher rate. When they swing at a fastball in the strike zone, however, their miss rate of 15.5% is down from 19.8% last year. It’s more on part with 2011.

When hitters put Verlander’s fastball in play, they’re batting .313, compared with a .283 mark last year and .234 in 2011.

So what’s the issue? Verlander told reporters last night he had been tinkering a bit too much in search of his velocity. However, he said a day earlier that the work he did was “fine-tuning” and nothing major, work mainly meant to get his body in sync.

“I’ve been spoiled the last couple of years by being in pretty good sync with my delivery,” Verlander said afterwards.

While the velocity drop raised concern that he wasn’t healthy, the abundance of sliders he threw Thursday and in his starts leading up to that — a pitch that puts stress on the elbow — would seemingly counter any argument about an injury.

Remember, health was a question being raised in 2008, including Jack Morris when he saw Verlander pitch in Minnesota early that year. Verlander made it through the season, then began the climb to the league’s elite the next year. So history shows it’s worth being careful with questions about Verlander’s arm.

Keep in mind as you watch Justin Verlander tonight: He said yesterday that he did some “fine-tuning” between starts after his struggles with fastball command doomed him last Saturday against the Indians, but the work was no major adjustment by his standards.

“Just trying to get my body in sync,” Verlander said Wednesday.

With the routine he maintains between starts, especially when he’s on normal rest, any major side work mechanically would be out of the ordinary for him.

“It’s never anything major with me,” he said. “Just fine-tuning.”

TIGERS

1. Andy Dirks, LF (1-for-3, walk, K vs. Darvish)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (6-for-18, HR, walk, 6 K’s vs. Darvish)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B (2-for-8, walk, 2 K’s vs. Darvish)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (2-for-6, HR, 3 walks, 2 K’s vs. Darvish)
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C (1-for-7, 2 walks, 4 K’s vs. Darvish)
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS (1-for-9, K vs. Darvish)
8. Don Kelly, CF (1-for-3 vs. Darvish)
9. Omar Infante, 2B (2-for-3, K vs. Darvish)

P: Justin Verlander

RANGERS

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B (5-for-30, 6 walks, 8 K’s off Verlander)
2. Elvis Andrus, SS (4-for-22, walk, 3 K’s off Verlander)
3. Lance Berkman, DH (1-for-3, 3 walks, K off Verlander)
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B (12-for-41, HR, 9 K’s off Verlander)
5. Nelson Cruz, RF (4-for-21, 2 HR, 6 K’s off Verlander)
6. Mitch Moreland, 1B (2-for-12, walk, 7 K’s off Verlander)
7. Geovany Soto, C (0-for-3, K off Verlander)
8. David Murphy, LF (7-for-22, 2 walks, 5 K’s off Verlander)
9. Leonys Martin, CF

P: Yu Darvish