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CWS@STL: Westbrook hurls six solid innings vs. Sox

Detroit won its fifth game of its last six and seventh of nine when it defeated St. Louis in the first game of the Interleague series between the two teams.

Righty Rick Porcello will try to keep the momentum going for the Tigers on Wednesday at Comerica Park.

The 23-year-old has given up four earned runs in each of his last two starts, but won the last one, pitching five innings of nine-hit baseball with one walk and five strikeouts. He is 4-4 on the year with a 5.18 ERA.

Fellow righty Jake Westbrook will have other plans when he takes the mound for the Cardinals, who have lost three of their last four and sit in third place in the National League Central.

The veteran is coming off one of his better starts lately, picking up a win against the White Sox in which he went six innings with five hits and a strikeout. All three runs he gave up came on a homer off the bat off Adam Dunn in the sixth inning.

"I thought he did a great job working from the bottom [of the strike zone] up," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He came out in the first inning and tried to find what the umpire's lowest zone was going to be. There was a little more life there, and you can't rule out having that extra day [of rest]. I always believe that that's a big shot in our arm for our starting staff."

One of Westbrook's better pitches on the day was his sinker, which he's worked on in his last few starts.

"It's always mechanical," Westbrook said. "It's just a matter of finding that arm slot, finding that release point and repeating it. The last couple ballgames, I've gotten back to that a little bit."

Cardinals: Holliday working through hip injury
• Slugger Matt Holliday slotted in the designated-hitter spot in the first game of Tuesday's Interleague matchup against Detroit. Holliday is currently dealing with a hip flexor injury, which factored into Matheny's decision to give him the night off from the field. Holliday went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI in Tuesday's game.

Tigers: Dotel returns to bullpen
• Detroit boosted its bullpen when it activated reliever Octavio Dotel from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. This is the first series Dotel has played against the Cardinals since winning the World Series with them last season. He did not appear in Tuesday's game.

Worth noting
• Cardinals center fielder Skip Schumaker went 0-for-3 in his first game since returning from the DL on Tuesday.

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