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COL@DET: Fister shuts out Rox through six in return

After a disastrous start to the season, Twins righty Liam Hendriks turned around his numbers on the mound in June.

The 23-year-old surrendered 18 runs in his first 18 innings of 2012, but in his last three outings he hasn't given up more than three runs to an opponent. Yet, despite the turnaround, Hendriks still hasn't found a way to get into the win column this year.

He'll get another shot at picking up his first career victory Monday when the Twins open a four-game series with the Tigers in Detroit.

In his last outing, Hendriks lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits against the White Sox, but the offense ended up falling short, 3-2.

"I felt really comfortable out there, so I need to remember what I did," Hendriks said after the game. "Hopefully, we can fare a bit better next time -- 11 [career starts] and counting. I'm still searching for that No. 1. It'll come. I'm not too worried about it. I just need to keep throwing up quality starts and hopefully we can snag a couple."

Looking to keep Hendriks winless will be Tigers right-hander Doug Fister. The 28-year-old put together two superb starts after coming off the disabled list in mid-June, but in his latest start, he faltered.

Fister tossed just 4 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits and nine runs (eight earned) to the Rangers in a 13-9 loss.

"I threw a lot of strikes. I did a poor job of commanding the zone," Fister said after the game. "I threw strikes, but I didn't throw them where I needed to at the right times. They obviously made me pay for that and it's going to be a focus in the bullpen [between starts]."

Tigers: Trio selected for All-Star Game
Prince Fielder, the reigning All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, took his credentials to the American League and won the starting nod at first base on Sunday while Miguel Cabrera earned his third straight selection and Justin Verlander earned his fourth straight All-Star selection and fifth overall.

Twins: Mauer returns to All-Star Game
Joe Mauer is an All-Star for the fifth time in his career after being selected Sunday to represent the Twins in Kansas City.

After an injury-plagued 2011 season, Mauer has returned to form this season. He leads all AL catchers with a .324 batting average, 83 hits, 17 doubles and 38 runs scored.

"Any time you get asked to go to an All-Star game, it's a great honor," Mauer said. "Obviously after the season we had last year, the season I had last year, it's nice too, to go."

With Mauer being selected as the club's lone All-Star, it marks the second straight year the club has had just one player on the squad. Michael Cuddyer was the lone representative last year while Justin Morneau and Mauer both represented the Twins in 2010.

Worth noting
• Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire needs one wins to reach 900 managerial victories.

• In collecting his 100th hit of the season on Sunday, Miguel Cabrera became the seventh Tigers player to total at least 100 hits, 15 home runs and 60 RBIs prior to the All-Star break. Cabrera also accomplished this feat for the club in 2010.

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