(My Sportsbook) - Although they won the opener of a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, 6-1, the Detroit Tigers can't help but be the object of so many jokes, no thanks to their 5-25 record.

The team, barely a month into the 2003 campaign, is already 15 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central, scoring a meager 80 runs and sporting a 3-13 record on the road.

But on a lighter note for the team that started the year with eight straight defeats and a mark of 1-17, the Tigers managed to put together back-to-back wins for the first time with their five-run victory against the Orioles yesterday.

Dmitri Young had two hits, two runs batted in and a run scored to lead Detroit over Baltimore. Bobby Higginson added two hits an RBI and a run scored for the Tigers while starter Nate Cornejo earned the victory and has now lasted at least six innings in each of his last five starts.

Cornejo yielded only one run on six hits and three walks in 7 1/3 innings, in which he collected one strikeout. He and Jeremy Bonderman have been credited with four of the team's five wins this season, the other going to reliever Jamie Walker.

Unfortunately for Detroit tonight, the rotation shows that Mike Maroth is getting the call to the hill. Maroth, who is 0-7 with a 5.66 ERA, carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start on Thursday against these same Orioles, but he was touched for four runs on and four hits in the frame on his way to his eighth straight loss dating back to last season.

The 25-year-old lefthander, whose last win came on September 16 of 2002, is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against Baltimore.

It should come as little surprise that the Tigers are last in the AL in batting with a collective average of .198 and also have a league-low 15 home runs to their credit.

Higginson and Young are tied for the team lead in both home runs (three) and RBI (11) entering today's action, with Higginson having also worked a team- best 17 walks in 29 games.

The Detroit pitching staff has a 4.57 ERA but is second from the bottom in strikeouts with just 141 through 262 innings.