Tigers 7, Orioles 3
DETROIT -- Jose Iglesias, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez hit home runs good for a combined six runs to help Anibal Sanchez to his sixth straight victory Friday night and get the Detroit Tigers off to a good start to the second half of their season with a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Right-hander Sanchez (9-7) gave up eight hits and two walks in his six innings but got good defensive plays behind him and made good pitches when he needed to. He struck out three and stranded six.
Baltimore got to Detroit's bullpen for a run in the seventh. The Orioles put runners at first and third against right-hander Al Alburquerque, and they scored when second baseman Ian Kinsler threw wildly to second for an error on a fielder's choice RBI grounder by right fielder Chris Davis off lefty Blaine Hardy.
Hardy finished the seventh, got the first out of the eighth, and newcomer right-hander Neftali Feliz turned the game over to right-handed closer Joakim Soria after getting the final two in the eighth.
Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (7-5) gave up seven hits and seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter but the three home runs doomed him.
Detroit has now scored 67 runs in its last 11 games, since manager Brad Ausmus retooled his batting order. But the Tigers are only 6-5 in those games.
Right fielder J.D. Martinez hit his 26th home run and fifth in 11 games with nobody on in the fifth to give Detroit a 7-2 edge.
One inning earlier, shortstop Iglesias, hitting .233 over his previous 10 games, came up after singles by first baseman Alex Avila and catcher James McCann to line his second home run of the season over the fence in left to expand the Tigers' lead to 6-2.
Iglesias was hit by a pitch in the second, stole second and scored on a ground rule double to left by center fielder Anthony Gose, putting Detroit up 3-1.
Baltimore loaded the bases off Sanchez in the fourth and got a run when first baseman Chris Parmelee hit into a force play at second, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The Orioles had scored their first run in the second on a two-out single to right by second baseman Jonathan Schoop with runners at first and third.
Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez hit a two-run home run to right in the first, the fourth he had hit off Jimenez in 25 at-bats, to jump on top, 2-0.
J.D. Martinez made two excellent fielding plays. He leaped to pull a home run back inside the park with a man on and two out in the third, then made a leaping catch of a liner to right to end the fourth.
NOTES: Detroit placed 1B Marc Krauss on the paternity list Friday, calling up INF Dixon Machado from Triple-A Toledo to replace him. Machado is in his second stint with the Tigers. ... Baltimore missed on signing its second-round draft choice, RHP Jonathan Hughes of Flowery Branch, Ga. Hughes will attend Georgia Tech instead. ... The Tigers' highest unsigned pick at the Friday deadline was seventh-round selection SS Nicholas Shumpert of Highlands Ranch (Col.) High School. ... Orioles RHP Chris Tillman, who will face Detroit on Saturday, is 3-0 against the Tigers in six career starts.