(Sports Network) - Veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood can reach double-digit wins for the third straight season and eighth time overall tonight when the Texas Rangers host the Detroit Tigers in the middle test of a three-game set at Rangers Park.
The North Carolina native, who'll turn 34 on Christmas Eve, won 17, 18 and 10 games with the Atlanta Braves from 1998-200, earned 18 and 14 wins with the Braves in 2002-03 and then picked up 16 and 10 wins with the Rangers in 2006-07.
He got to win No. 9 this season with a 4-3 defeat of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on August 31 in Anaheim, but has failed in subsequent tries for No. 10 against Boston and Seattle on September 5 and 10.
He tossed a complete game against the Tigers on August 20 in Texas, allowing six hits and a run while improving his career mark against Detroit to 4-4 in 10 starts with a 3.78 earned run average.
For the Tigers, right-hander Zach Miner can add to an already personal-best win total in 2008.
The 26-year-old Missouri native is unbeaten in his last seven starts this season, winning three times since a 5-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Aug. 1.
A seven-game winner as a rookie in 2006, Miner equaled that mark with a 4-0 shutout of Kansas City on Aug. 23 and surpassed it when he defeated the Royals again, 6-3, just six days later in Michigan.
Miner is 1-1 in four games - one start - in his career against the Rangers with a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.
On Monday, Taylor Teagarden hit his first career grand slam and finished with a career-high five runs driven in and Travis Metcalf cracked a three-run homer, as the Rangers outslugged the Tigers, 11-8.
Marlon Byrd had a two-run triple to cap a four-run eighth inning for Texas, which has won three of its last five games. Michael Young drove in a run in the win. Starter Brandon McCarthy lasted just two-thirds of an inning after suffering a strained flexor tendon in his right middle finger.
Gary Sheffield hit his 497th career homer, a three-run blast, for the Tigers, who have dropped five straight. Jeff Larish ended with a pair of RBI in defeat, while Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored twice.
Starter Dontrelle Willis was decent in his first start since June 9, giving up just three runs on two hits in five frames with four strikeouts and five walks. He left with a 4-3 lead, but got a no-decision and is still seeking his first win for Detroit after getting traded there last December from Florida.
Trailing by a run in the home eighth, Max Ramirez drew a lead off walk from Kyle Farnsworth (2-3), and it was first and second after Metcalf hit a single. Teagarden then crushed an RBI double to center which saw Metcalf get thrown out at the plate.
Two batters later, Young slapped an RBI single to right. Josh Hamilton was intentionally walked and Byrd legged out a two-run triple to center, making it 11-8.
Frank Francisco (3-5), who also recorded the final out in the eighth, worked around a walk in the ninth to seal the deal and pick up the win.
Detroit has won five of seven against the Rangers this season.
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