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After a day off Thursday for both these clubs, the Detroit Tigers head to Minnesota to face the Twins in a critical 3 game series. Heading into this game, the Twins are only 3 games behind the division leading Tigers and if all goes according to plan, they'll end the weekend series tied with their divisional foe.

In order to accomplish that feat, they'll open with their best pitcher on Friday, as Kevin Slowey and his 10-3 record hits the mound for the Twins. Despite the Tigers being the better team statistically, the numbers certainly suggest that Slowey has the upper hand in this one. He's faced the Tigers once this season, going 6 strong innings, giving up only 1 run on his way to the win. Lifetime, he's 3-0 against them, though they have hit him well, batting .383. But Slowey is nearly unbeatable at the Metrodome where he's 17-4 lifetime with a solid 3.61 ERA.

Couple that with the fact that the Tigers are not hitting the ball very well these days, are 1-4 in their last 5 meetings against the Twins, and happen to be 2-9 in their last 11 games on field turf and it looks like a lock for the Twins to get it done on Friday.

There's only one reason the Tigers could have an edge in this contest: the unknown factor. The Tigers are throwing rookie lefty Lucas French (4-4, 2.98 ERA with the Toledo MudHens in AAA ball) on the mound. This season, the Twins have hit southpaws exceptionally well. However, nobody really knows what French is capable of at the big league level and often that gives the edge to the pitcher. Aside from a couple of innings tossed in May against the A's, this will be his big league debut as a Starting pitcher.

All signs point to a solid Twins victory, but nothing like a voracious rookie trying to impress the world to spoil the party.