Alliance... » DETROIT — Justin Verlander can expect a warm welcome Monday

night when he pitches against his former team Jay Buhner Jersey , the Detroit Tigers, for the second time in his career and first time in Comerica Park.Verlander (14-9, 2.73 ERA) remains a popular figure in Detroit even after the Tigers dealt him away at the waiver trade deadline last year. It was a trade he agreed to only at the last minute as his desire to pitch for a championship team overcame his reluctance to leave the franchise where he made his bones as a major league pitcher.“I am sure he had this series marked on his calendar for a while,” Detroit catcher James McCann told reporters. “Regardless of what we did to him last time. You know he’s going to want to come out and pitch well, coming back to Comerica.Article continues below ...He has faced his ex-team just once so far and it didn’t go so well for him.Detroit visited Houston earlier this year and pounded the ace of the World Series champions for four home runs among six hits good for six runs (one unearned) on July 15. Verlander took the loss but struck out 12 in six innings and didn’t walk a batter.Since his first appearance against Detroit, Verlander is 5-4 with a 3.93 ERA in his last nine starts.The Astros head to Detroit after losing 6-5 at Boston on Sunday night on a walk-off single by Red Sox pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland. Houston is 89-54 and 2 1/2 games ahead of Oakland in the AL West while Detroit (59-84) is riding out the rest of the season, though it is 6-3 in its last nine games.“It will be a completely different animal the first time I go back to Comerica,” Verlander said in July.He will be opposed by left-hander Francisco Liriano, who at this time a year ago was pitching for the Astros.Liriano (4-9, 4.90) faced Houston in the other series against the Astros but did not figure in the decision during a start in which worked three innings, giving up a run on one hit with three walks and three strikeouts.Liriano picked up his first win since April 28 on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox when he allowed three runs, on seven hits in 5.0 innings.For his career, Liriano is 2-1 with a 4.37 ERA over four starts against the Astros.Rookie left fielder Christin Stewart can expect to get his first major league at-bat against Verlander after being called up to Detroit on Sunday when his team (Toledo) was eliminated by Durham from the International League playoffs. He hit .264 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI for the Mud Hens.“That’s one of the things we’ve been waiting for,” said manager Ron Gardenhire of the Tigers. “He’s going to play a lot this month. He’s going to get a lot of swings. He’s part of the future.“I want him playing (left field). I don’t want him DHing.”Also called up from Toledo by Detroit were veteran Jarrod Saltalamacchia Denard Span Jersey , who will give the Tigers a third catcher, plus right-handed reliever Zac Reininger.Another pitcher or two will be called up by Detroit soon but Gardenhire declined to identify them because they haven’t been told yet. He said another infielder might be brought up if shortstop Jose Iglesias is unable to return from an abdominal strain.At least one of the pitchers is joining the rotation, the manager said, and Detroit will be going to a six-man rotation at that point.“I’ll tell those guys to keep doing what you’ve been doing,” Gardenhire said. “There’s a reason you’ve been called up here.” We had a couple of rather good ones last night. Where do they stand in team history?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Diamondbacks Farm TeamsGameday ThreadsDiamondbacks NewsDiamondbacks Game ReportsFang FoodConcerning dazzling Diamondbacks debutsNew,30commentsWe had a couple of rather good ones last night. Where do they stand in team history?EDTShareTweetShareShareConcerning dazzling Diamondbacks debutsOrlando Ramirez-USA TODAY SportsMerrill KellyKelly became the seventh Diamondbacks pitcher in franchise history to throw a quality start in his MLB debut, and the first since Zack Godley in July 2015. It was, admittedly, a squeaker in terms of quality starts, being the bare minimum in both innings pitched (six) and earned runs allowed (three). But on the other hand, it consisted of five excellent innings, and a mistake pitch which Fernando Tatis Jr. brutalized with the enthusiasm of a lion spotting a gazelle wearing a surgical boot. Still, you’d have got long odds against Kelly being the first member of the 2019 rotation to throw a quality start, and after the horrors of our pitching in Los Angeles http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , it seems churlish to quibble about the quality of the quality start. Below are details of last night’s outing, and how it compares to the six previous QS debuts for Arizona.D-backs quality starts in debutsPlayerDateOppRsltIPHRERBBSOHRGScPlayerDateOppRsltIPHRERBBSOHRGScWhat’s notable is, of course, Kelly’s age: 30 years and 169 days. That’s about two years and ten months more than the next-oldest on the list (Gerardo Guzman), and nine years older than our youngest QS debutant, Tyler Skaggs. It makes him the third-oldest rookie to pitch their first game for the Diamondbacks. I’m sure you can guess Yoshihisa Hirano is top; the other was Matt Buschmann, 32 when he appeared for Arizona in 2016. Since the D-backs entered the majors in 1998, only four older players have pitched a quality start and got a win in their first appearance. Unsurprisingly, three of those are Japanese “rookies” [Kenshin Kawakami, Hiroki Kuroda and Masato Yoshii], while the fourth was Orlando Hernandez. Jon DuplantierWith his three scoreless innings, Duplantier also joins his own elite club. There were also six previous Diamondbacks to throw three or more scoreless innings in their debut, though Kelly is the only one to have picked up a save. Unsurprisingly, there is some over lap with the list above for Kelly: Archie Bradley and Zack Godley’s first times on the mound Ben Gamel Jersey , appear on both tables. However, there are some new entries to consider as well. 3+ scoreless innings in debutPlayerDateOppRsltIPHRERBBSOHRPlayerDateOppRsltIPHRERBBSOHRThe closest parallel is probably the first appearance of future Cy Young winner, Max Scherzer, which is the only such game where the pitcher appeared in relief. Similarly to Duplantier, Scherzer was a highly-rated prospect whose arrival was hotly anticipated. But if Jon’s first appearance was good, Scherzer’s was off-the-charts amazing. He faced thirteen batters that night, and retired all of them, seven by the strikeout. I wrote at the time, ‘Tonight may be one of those games we look back on in twenty years and say, “Yes, I remember seeing Scherzer make his major-league debut.”’ Almost 10 years on, it’s certainly true; here’s to us saying the same thing about Duplantier’s debut, in 2029!