Brad Thomas replaces Dontrelle Willis as Tigers' starter

Suddenly, the Tigers find themselves in the same boat as the Yankees going with a spot starter tonight. Dontrelle Willis scratched with a case of the flu and has been replaced by Brad Thomas (1-0, 5.40 ERA), who will be making his second start of the season and his eighth appearance.

So far this season, Thomas has surrendered 22 hits in 16.2 innings pitched mostly in relief. In the two previous years, Thomas pitched for Hanwha in the Korean League. The Yankees are going with Sergio Mitre in place of Andy Pettitte (left elbow inflammation. Mitre had a 3.27 ERA in spring training when he auditioned for the fifth starter role that went to Phil Hughes.

Right on cue, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira's bat has warmed up in May after another terrible April. Saturday's three-homer game in Boston, the third of Texiera's career, certainly helped. He joined Lou Gehrig as the only Yankees to homer three times in a game against the Red Sox. In eight May games, Teixeira is batting .364 with 11 RBI to go with his three HR…Brett Gardner takes a career-high 11-game hitting streak into tonight's game. His .344 BA and .425 OBP both are fourth in the American League, and his 14 stolen bases are second in the majors, one behind Juan Pierre of the Chicago White Sox…Tigers' Miguel Cabrera leads the majors with a .500 BA with runners in scoring position (19-38).