Tigers 5, Indians 2
Max Scherzer dominated through seven innings and Don Kelly homered as the Detroit Tigers defeated the lowly Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Saturday.
Austin Jackson doubled twice and scored a pair of runs and Brennan Boesch drove in a run for the Tigers, who have taken the first two of the three-game set.
Scherzer (9-9) allowed two runs - one earned - and four hits while striking out eight and walking two. The right-hander has been Detroit’s best pitcher since mid-June, going 7-3 with a 1.91 ERA in his last 13 starts while striking out 84 batters in 74 2/3 innings.
The Indians tied it at 2-2 on Travis Hafner’s RBI single in the third, but Detroit came right back to take the lead on Brandon Inge’s sacrifice fly in the fourth. With Scherzer set on cruise control after that, the Tigers added some insurance with two more runs in the fifth on Kelly’s solo homer and Boesch’s RBI double.
Rookie Josh Tomlin (1-3) suffered the loss for Cleveland, surrendering all five runs on seven hits in six innings.
Phil Coke tossed a scoreless eighth and Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 24th save.