Game 143: Tigers @ Twins

Pregame

With Glen Perkins taking the hill to give the Twins a shot at winning the series, his success depends on how well the Tiger hitters see what he has to offer.  Hitters will be putting the ball in play, meaning his success (and therefore the team's shot at winning) greatly depends on how much his defense is able to pick him up.  Lazy fly balls and easy grounders can still be dangerous when the defender can't make the play.  If he's allowing more than a hit per inning, he'll be running into more trouble; all his quality starts over the last few weeks have seen Perk allow fewer hits than innings.

Across the diamond waiting to take the hill in the bottom of the first will be Chris Lambert.  The 25-year old right-hander is making the third start of 2008 and of his career, and while he's struggled in both of his first two in the majors he was capable of striking out a handful of guys per start in the minors.  Since 2004 he's accumulated 450 strikeouts in 511 minor league innings...but he often offset that advantage quite often by walking more than his share.  He can sometimes "over-pitch" by trying to keep the ball low in the zone, a result of being a fly-ball pitcher who gets into trouble with the longball when he misses high.  Lambert offers a high-80's/low-90's fastball, a curve, slider and changeup.