Tigers Fall To Indians 3-2
CLEVELAND (WWJ/AP) - A five-game win streak comes to an end as the Detroit Tigers lose to the Cleveland Indians 3-2, moving the Tribe within three games of the AL Central-leading Tigers on Tuesday night.
As heard on 97.1 The Ticket - a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera off reliever Joe Smith tied the score in the seventh inning only to be broken by the Indians as Aaron Cunningham bunted home the go-ahead run with a suicide squeeze in the second half of the inning to give them the winning edge.
Travis Hafner tripled with one out in the seventh inning off Doug Fister (4-7) and Lou Marson ran for him.
Marson took off running as Cunningham, a defensive replacement hitting .175, dropped a bunt in front of the plate. Fister quickly got the ball and tried to shovel it to catcher Alex Avila. It rolled away, Marson scored, and Cunningham took second on the error.
Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.
Cleveland is 6-1 against the Tigers. Perez has saved each win. Five have been by two runs or fewer.
Vinnie Pestano pitched a scoreless eighth for Cleveland, which is 29-3 when the right-hander and Perez have been in the same game. The Indians are 20-45 in all other games.
Johnny Damon had an RBI single in the second inning and Carlos Santana singled home a run in the fourth for Cleveland.
Smith thought he had thrown a third strike past Quintin Berry to end the top of the seventh with that 2-0 lead. TV replays showed his 3-2 pitch was over the heart of the plate, but umpire Marvin Hudson judged it to be a tad high. Cabrera then drove a 2-0 pitch over the wall in center for his 24th homer.
Great hustle by Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder helped douse the Indians' rally in the fourth.
With runners on first and second and none out, Santana singled between first and second, driving home Jason Kipnis. Right fielder Brennan Boesch scooped up the ball and threw toward home, but Fielder cut off the throw and fired to third baseman Cabrera, getting Michael Brantley in a rundown.
Fielder then sprinted across the diamond to backup Cabrera, took a return throw from shortstop Jhonny Peralta and tagged out Brantley trying to reach third with a headfirst slide.
Hafner struck out and Damon grounded out to end the inning.
Jimenez allowed seven singles over six scoreless innings.
Fister gave up three runs and nine hits over seven innings.
Notes:
Fielder's hustle play resulted in a putout scored 9-3-5-6-3, which made residents of Pearblossom, Calif., proud. That's their zip code number. ... The Indians acquired INF-OF Brent Lillibridge from Boston for minor-league RHP Jose De La Torre. They must make a move to get Lillibridge on the roster Wednesday. ... Cleveland tied a season high with its seventh straight errorless game. The Indians have only seven errors in their past 28 games. ... Tigers manager Jim Leyland said RHP Anibal Sanchez will start Saturday in Toronto and 2B Omar Infante will bat in the second spot against left-handers and ninth against right-handers. The two were acquired from Miami on Monday. ... Ramon Santiago, who has been splitting Tigers second-base duties with Ryan Raburn and Danny Worth, will be the utility infielder. Raburn will play left field against lefty pitchers; Worth was optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
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