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CLE@STL: Lohse hurls 7 2/3 scoreless frames vs. Tribe

Jacob Turner was born in St. Charles, Mo., and attended Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis -- the same school that Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's son Tate Matheny graduated from this year.

Turner will make his anticipated 2012 debut on Thursday against his hometown team, taking the hill against the Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game series in Detroit.

The 21-year-old Turner, the ninth overall pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, was 0-1 with an 8.53 ERA over three starts in 2011. Turner will be recalled from Triple-A Toledo, where he was 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA in seven starts this year.

Turner will duel with Cardinals right-hander Kyle Lohse. Lohse is 6-2 this season, and allowed three runs on 10 hits in his last start. He's thrown well in June, however, allowing four earned runs in 20 2/3 innings over three starts.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland spoke highly of how many Cardinals players go about their business and play the game, including David Freese, Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker.

"I talked to the old skipper this morning, and I told him, 'No wonder you won the World Series with that team.' I was kidding, of course, but they're good," Leyland said, referring to former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "They got what I've talked about all my life. They've got baseball players that are athletes. Not athletes that are baseball players. They got baseball players."

Cardinals: Carpenter's bullpen sessions going well
Chris Carpenter threw his fourth bullpen session on Wednesday since he began throwing off a mound last week. He hopes to begin throwing to batters as the next step in his recovery from nerve irritation in his right shoulder.

Carpenter will throw batting practice during the Cardinals weekend series in Kansas City if he doesn't feel any pain on Thursday.

"The last few bullpens have been full-effort with all my pitches, making sure that I'm doing all the things I need to do to progress to that next step," Carpenter said. "I feel good. I really do. My shoulder feels good. My body feels good. The effort level has been there, too."

Carpenter began traveling with the club this week, something he hadn't done since the Cardinals' season-opener in Miami. This has made it possible for Matheny and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist to observe Carpenter's progress.

• Jon Jay, who went on the disabled list last month with a strained right shoulder, played seven innings in center field and went 2-for-4 with a homer, a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored on Wednesday in his second rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis.

Tigers: Valverde sidelined with wrist injury
Closer Jose Valverde will miss at least the next three to four days with a sprained wrist, an injury he suffered while warming up in the bullpen on Tuesday night. He is not expected to be put on the disabled list.

Valverde underwent an MRI that showed inflammation around the flexor tendon in his wrist. He said on Wednesday his wrist was still sore, but it felt far better than it did on Tuesday. Valverde will wear a wrist immobilizer for the next few days before he's re-examined.

"We're just going to treat him day to day and go from there," Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said on Wednesday. "We're not thinking it's a long-term situation."

• Rand said Andy Dirks, who's been sidelined since May 31 with Achilles tendinitis, hasn't had any significant changes in his recovery. Rand said Dirks still has some residual soreness and is also using a walking boot.

Worth noting
• The Cardinals and Tigers have played 28 times, with Detroit owning an 18-10 advantage.

• Prince Fielder is 6-for-26 lifetime against Lohse, with a double and three RBIs.

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