Tigers, A's go at it again after 13-inning contest

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Detroit veteran Jordan Zimmermann will seek to continue an impressive stretch of pitching by his club's starting pitchers when the Tigers and Oakland Athletics meet for the second time in their three-game series Saturday night.

Detroit left-hander Blaine Hardy took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and completed seven with a shutout Friday night in the Tigers' 1-0, 13-inning loss to the A's.

With Matthew Boyd (eight innings) and Mike Fiers (two) not allowing any runs in their starts earlier in the week against Cincinnati, Tigers starters have now thrown 17 consecutive shutout innings.

In fact, the last Detroit starter to give up a run was Zimmermann (4-3, 4.44 ERA), who was roughed up for five runs in three innings in an 8-1 loss to Cleveland on Sunday.

It was Zimmermann's third consecutive subpar effort. He has allowed six home runs in his last three starts, all losses, while giving up 24 hits and 13 runs in 14 2/3 innings.

Pitching shutout ball against the A's would be nothing new for the 32-year-old, though. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in what turned into a 5-4 home loss to the A's in June.

As will be the case Saturday, Zimmermann dueled A's veteran Edwin Jackson (2-2, 3.32) in the earlier meeting. Jackson, who was making his Oakland debut, gave up just one run and six hits in six innings.

Oakland rallied from 4-1 down with a three-run eighth inning, then got the game-winner on a Jed Lowrie home run in the ninth.

Zimmermann has never lost to the A's in three career starts, going 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA.

He served up three home runs -- all to players no longer with the A's -- in a 6-5 loss last May in his only previous outing in Oakland.

Jackson, meanwhile, has seen the Tigers 16 times in his career, including 11 times as a starter. He has compiled a 4-2 record and 3.23 ERA.

The 34-year-old will be looking for his second win of the week. He threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowing three hits, in a 10-1 home win over Toronto on Monday.

Both pitchers will be looking for a whole lot more offensive support than the teams gave their respective starters in Friday's series opener.

Neither team had a hit until the Tigers' Jose Iglesias doubled down the left-field line with one out in the sixth inning. A's left-hander Brett Anderson had retired the first 16 batters he faced.

The A's didn't get their first hit off Hardy until Jed Lowrie beat out a grounder to shortstop leading off the seventh.

Outfielder Ramon Laureano, making his major-league debut, ended the game with a walk-off RBI single that one-hopped the fence in right field in the 13th inning.

Neither of Saturday's pitchers will have a fully stocked bullpen after the Tigers used four relievers for a total of 5 2/3 innings and the A's employed four for six innings, all attempting to protect his team's shutout.

The A's will have a streak of their own on the line in Saturday's game. They have captured all five meetings with the Tigers this season, needing two more to complete a season-series sweep.

Oakland just completed a 7-0 whitewashing of the Toronto Blue Jays, which was just the third in franchise history in a series of seven or more games.