Upton, Martinez power Tigers to rare win over Indians
CLEVELAND -- Justin Upton and J.D. Martinez hit home runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 9-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday at Progressive Field.
Daniel Norris (3-2) pitched five innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits to get the win. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the last 1 1/3 innings to pick up his 43rd save.
Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (11-8) gave up six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss. Bauer struck out five, walked two and hit three batters.
The win was only Detroit's second in 15 games against Cleveland this year.
The Indians took an early lead in the second inning. With one out Carlos Santana doubled and later scored on a two-out single by Brandon Guyer. Guyer went to second on an error by center fielder Cameron Maybin, and scored on a single by Abraham Almonte, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.
Ian Kinsler led off the top of the third and got hit in the head by a pitch from Bauer. Kinsler remained in the game, and went to second when Maybin drew a walk. Miguel Cabrera singled to right, loading the bases.
Victor Martinez then got hit in the right knee by a pitch from Bauer, forcing in Kinsler with Detroit's first run. Bauer struck out the next two batters, but Erick Aybar lined a single to right, scoring Maybin and Cabrera, as the Tigers took a 3-2 lead.
Detroit made it 5-2 in the fifth inning. J.D. Martinez led off with a double and he rode home on a booming home run by Upton over the center-field wall. It's Upton's 25th homer of the season and his third in the last three games.
Cleveland countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Gimenez singled with one out and went to second on a walk drawn by Rajai Davis. Jason Kipnis hit a ground ball to second that was booted by Kinsler for an error, allowing Gimenez to score, and moving Davis to third. Davis then scored on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Lindor to cut the Detroit lead to 5-4.
James McCann led off the top of the sixth with a double. He went to third on an infield single by Maybin, and scored on a wild pitch by Bauer, extending the Tigers' lead to 6-4.
The Indians got that run back in the bottom of the sixth when Santana led off with a long home run over the wall in center field off reliever Alex Wilson. It was Santana's 32nd homer of the year and made it a one-run game at 6-5.
But J.D. Martinez capped the scoring with a three-run home run off Joe Colon in the ninth inning to make the final 9-5.
NOTES: Indians OF Rajai Davis leads the American League with 40 stolen bases, 12 more than anyone else in the league. Davis is in a position to become the first Indians player to lead the league in steals since Kenny Lofton led the league with 75 in 1996. ... RHP Cody Anderson will be pressed into service as the Indians' No. 5 starter in the Indians' injury-riddled rotation. Anderson, who had been working out of the bullpen, is scheduled to start Saturday against the White Sox. ... Tigers RHP Justin Verlander has struck out at least one batter in 312 consecutive games. That's the longest streak among active pitchers and is tied with Tom Seaver for the ninth longest streak in the majors since 1913. ... The Tigers are 2-13 against Cleveland and 30-21 against all other AL Central opponents.