Tigers 9, Indians 4
Tigers 9, Indians 4: Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder highlighted a four-run third inning with back-to-back home runs to power visiting Detroit to its seventh straight victory over Cleveland.
Torii Hunter fell a single short of the cycle and had three RBIs for the Tigers, who have outscored the Indians 49-22 during their series winning streak. The offensive support was more than enough for Anibal Sanchez (7-5), who allowed one run on three hits over five frames in his first start since June 15 due to a shoulder strain.
Carlos Carrasco (0-4) was pounded in his second straight outing, surrendering seven runs (six earned) and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Ramon Santiago was the only starter that failed to get a hit for Detroit, although he reached on a bunt that Carrasco threw wide of third base on a force-out play, sparking a three-run fourth.
Carrasco stranded runners in scoring position in each of his first two innings, but following an Austin Jackson double in the third, Cabrera sent a 2-2 slider into the left-field seats. Fielder followed with a towering fly ball over the fence in right-center and Jhonny Peralta singled up the middle two batters later to score Victor Martinez.
Michael Bourn’s infield single plated a run in the bottom half, but Detroit increased its margin to 7-1 in the fourth on Santiago’s sacrifice bunt, Austin Jackson’s sacrifice fly and Hunter’s RBI double. Hunter delivered a two-run blast halfway up the left-field bleachers off reliever Matt Albers in his next at-bat in the sixth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Each back-to-back homer had a bit of history attached to it. For Cabrera, it was his 348th career homer, tying him with George Foster for 89th-most all-time. Fielder’s 275th career blast moved him into a tie with Brian Downing, Dean Palmer, Roger Maris and Jorge Posada for 167th all-time. … Hunter grounded out softly to reliever Vinnie Pestano in the eighth, thwarting his bid to become the 11th player Detroit history to hit for the cycle. … The Tigers have outscored their opponents 40-13 during their five-game winning streak.