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DET@TOR: Fister stellar, fans nine over eight innings

Tigers starter Doug Fister has been feeling pretty good during his last few starts, and during that time, it has been a simple matter of better execution that has led to success.

Over his last four outings, all quality starts, Fister is 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA, and has registered 31 strikeouts to just five walks. Against the Blue Jays in his last start, the right-hander allowed one run on seven hits, walked two and struck out nine in eight innings.

The win improved Fister's record to 5-7 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.77, the first time it has been below 4.00 in more than a month.

"He made pitches when he had to. He doesn't panic and moves the ball around pretty good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after Fister's last start. "He's pretty good at staying calm when he gets in a tight situation, and I think that is a trait of a real good pitcher."

Opposing Fister for the Indians will be right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, who will be hoping to halt a hot Tigers offense.

Jimenez is 1-5 in his last seven starts, and in his last outing, he allowed four runs on six hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings against the Twins.

Indians pitchers have allowed 58 runs over their last seven games overall, losing all of them.

"I'd be lying to you if I told you it doesn't deflate you a little bit," Indians outfielder Shelley Duncan said. "This time of year, you start to scoreboard-watch a little bit. After the game, you check to see how other teams did. It does knock you around a little bit."

Indians: Roster moves a good sign, Acta says
• After designating for assignment both Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe, it'd be easy to see it as a sign that the Indians have given up on things. But for manager Manny Acta, that's simply not the case.

"This is not bringing the young kids or giving up or anything like that," Acta said. "We're trying to improve in spots where we weren't actually performing up to the standards that we need in order to continue to compete."

To fill Damon's roster spot, the Indians called up outfielder Ezequiel Carrera from Triple-A. And with Lowe and Josh Tomlin, who was moved to the bullpen, both out of the rotation, the Indians are giving opportunities to righty Corey Kluber and lefty Chris Seddon, who is expected to start on Sunday.

Tigers: Dirks activated after two months away
• Outfielder Andy Dirks, who has been out since May 30 with a right Achilles injury, made his first appearance back with the Tigers on Friday. He went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

• For now, Leyland appears to be going with matchups instead of sticking with a consistent lineup. It's not the traditional plan of switching back-and-forth between lefties and righties, but Leyland thinks the positives of having Brennan Boesch in the lineup behind Prince Fielder are worth the risk. (The Tigers came through with 10 runs on Friday.)

"I'm sticking another lefty behind Prince against right-handed pitching," Leyland said. "I've been thinking about that for a while. But it's a little bit more complicated than people think."

Worth noting
• With their win on Friday, the Tigers improved their record against the Indians this season to 3-7 and 2-2 at home. The Tigers have won 12 of their last 13 games at Comerica Park dating back to July 4.

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