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Justin Verlander, who has won four of his past five decisions, takes the mound Saturday for Detroit.

By Orestes Destrade, ESPN

The Twins are struggling a bit lately, so it probably doesn't help that this weekend in Detroit they are going to see both Justin Verlander and Jarrod Washburn. The Twins have played well this year against the Tigers -- Minnesota owns a 6-2 record this season -- but their struggles lately having lost four of six make it hard to favor them in this matchup of the Al Central leaders (Detroit) and one of the chasers (Minnesota).

The three starters the Twins will use this weekend -- Anthony Swarzak, Glen Perkins and Scott Baker -- have a combined ERA of 4.93 this season. On a team with an offense that doesn't provide a huge power threat, the pitching needs to be strong to win close games. The Twins haven't gotten what they expected from Francisco Liriano, and the other guys involved in the rotation don't quite mesh. The Twins couldn't make a move at the trade deadline for a second-tier guy to give the rotation a much-needed boost because of the restrictions with their prospects. It's now just a matter of getting these five guys over the hump and hungry to contend for the remainder of the season.

Besides Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the Minnesota offense doesn't have much depth. Manager Ron Gardenhire does the best he can with what he has. He, like Mike Scioscia, puts a lot of emphasis on playing small ball. He encourages his team to play smart defensive baseball and takes pride in preventing runs just as much as in scoring them. All the little things a club should know how to do well, the Twins are able to do.

Featured Series: Twins at Tigers

FRIDAY Twins (Anthony Swarzak) at Tigers (Armando Galarraga), 7:05 ET

SATURDAY Twins (Glen Perkins) at Tigers (Justin Verlander), 7:05 ET

SUNDAY Twins (Scott Baker) at Tigers (Jarrod Washburn), 1:05 ET

Under Gardenhire, the Twins have always been a team with their backs against the wall. On paper, the matchups never look good, but still you can never count them out. Last spring training, I was down in Florida for, coincidentally, a Twins-Tigers game. The Tigers had just acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins, and the baseball universe predicted the team would score a 1,000 runs and be a lock for the World Series. When I interviewed Gardenhire and asked him what he thought about competing against a team like the Tigers 20 times a year, he simply said his team would be just fine. He was quietly confident. He takes pride in the fact that his team is always considered an underdog, and he uses that to motivate his players. No, they don't unleash the most dangerous starting nine every night, but they keep hanging around until the end just about every year. They made a great run last season that forced a postseason play-in game with the White Sox. That 1,000-run Tiger team happened to finished dead last.

The Tigers and White Sox right now look to be the teams in line for the AL Central crown, but you can't really ever count out the Twins.

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ON DECK: WEEKEND WATCH

Red Sox at Yankees

The start of the series did not go well for the Red Sox, as John Smoltz was pounded for eight earned runs by the Yankees' offense in the opener. A lot can still happen over three days, and two former Marlins pitchers head to the mound, with A.J. Burnett facing Josh Beckett.

Rangers at Angels

The Angels could very well put away the AL West in this series -- or the Rangers could reaffirm that they are not going anywhere. Texas trails by 4½ games, so the division race could endure a big swing over the next three games. Scott Feldman starts Friday's game for the Rangers opposite Joe Saunders.

Rays at Mariners

While the Yankees and Red Sox fight it out, the other contender in the AL East has the pleasure of opening a series against Seattle and Felix Hernandez. Although his strikeout numbers are down -- he has only four over his past two outings -- Hernandez has still been essentially unbeatable. He is 8-1 since May 19.

For the rest of Friday's schedule, click here. To see what's on tap for Saturday, click here. And for Sunday's full slate of games, click here.