Tigers Outlast Indians 6-5 In 14 Innings
TOM WITHERS,AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) — Even hours after Miguel Cabrera hit one of those home runs that define legends, the Tigers were still celebrating.
And in awe.
As they ate their postgame meals, Detroit's players watched the clubhouse TVs, where a highlight of Cabrera's two-run shot off rookie Danny Salazar in the eighth inning helped send them to a 6-5 win in 14 over the Cleveland Indians.
When the ball left Cabrera's bat disappeared into the sky, all the Tigers roared — just as they did in the dugout.
"He hit a massive home run," Torii Hunter said. "That's why we're here."
Prince Fielder hit a two-run double in the 14th inning as the Tigers won their 11th straight and increased their lead in the AL Central to six games over the Indians, who may have left Salazar in for one too many pitches.
After the Tigers put two runners on against Bryan Shaw (2-3), Fielder lined his double off Marc Rzepczynski into the gap as the Tigers beat the Indians for the 11th time in 12 games and improved to 12-3 against their nearest division rival.
Jeremy Bonderman (2-3) pitched three innings in his first appearance for the Tigers since Oct. 1, 2010. Joaquin Benoit gave up a two-out RBI double to Michael Bourn and wild pitch before striking out Drew Stubbs with the tying run at third for his 14th save.
Detroit's winning streak is its longest since winning 12 in a row in 2011, and the Tigers can match that run with a win on Thursday when Max Scherzer tries to become baseball's first 17-game winner.
A four-game sweep of the Indians wouldn't even be possible if not for Cabrera's two-out homer — a shot the Indians may remember for months.
Making his second major league start, Salazar pitched brilliantly — he struck out 10 in 7 2-3 innings — but made one major mistake and Cabrera made him pay.
With Detroit trailing 3-2, the slugger belted Salazar's first pitch over the center-field wall for his 33rd homer — a 449-foot, no-doubt-about-it shot. Cabrera's homer came after Hunter singled, but Indians manager Terry Francona decided to stick with the 23-year-old, who had struck out Cabrera in his first three at-bats.
"If you strike Miguel Cabrera out three times, he's not going to want a fourth," Hunter said. "He's going to make adjustments."
Francona's choice to let Salazar pitch to Cabrera backfired. The Indians wanted to see what the right-hander in heat of the playoff chase and he delivered an electrifying performance with one unforgiveable glitch, a fastball down the middle of the plate that Cabrera nearly hit onto East 9th Street.
After Cabrera rounded the bases, Francona went out and replaced Salazar, who received a thunderous ovation from appreciative Cleveland fans.
Francona said he never considered taking Salazar out.
"He was throwing about as well as you could," Francona said. "That would have been his last hitter, but to that point I would have had a hard time justifying having him not pitch. That's how good I thought he was. I think he just left one over the middle. He didn't locate it."
Salazar tried to throw another fastball past Cabrera, but the reigning Triple Crown winner was ready for it.
"I got him a couple times with my fastball, so I was going to try it again. I left it in the middle and he hit it," Salazar said. "If you throw outside or inside to him it doesn't matter. He's a great hitter, the best right now. He just hit that pitch really good."
Austin Jackson hit a solo homer in the sixth for Detroit, now 24-7 since July 2.
Regrouping after Cabrera's dramatic shot, the Indians tied it 4-4 in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Gomes.
The Indians had given Salazar a 3-2 lead in the seventh on Nick Swisher's RBI double.
Before Cabrera's majestic, towering homer, Salazar had stifled the AL's top hitting team and showed poise beyond his years.
With Corey Kluber out for at least one month — and possibly longer — with a sprained right middle finger, Salazar will fill the vacant spot in Cleveland's rotation.
He may stay there for a while.
The Indians pushed back Ubaldo Jimenez so Salazar could face the Tigers, who were wary of his velocity and their lack of exposure to him.
"That kid was really something special," Leyland said. "It's not very often that I'm in the dugout saying, holy crap. But tonight, that was impressive. Man, he was throwing easy 98, 99, easy. That was pretty nasty."
Salazar gave up a run in the second, but settled in and retired nine in a row before Jackson led off the sixth with his eighth homer to tie it 2-2. Salazar, though, was unfazed. He retired Hunter on a groundout, struck out Cabrera for the third time — on a 100 mph fastball — and popped up Fielder.
Salazar was in trouble in the seventh, and again showed composure, stranding a runner at third.
After his dazzling debut on July 11, when he took a no-hitter into the sixth against Toronto, the Indians were convinced Salazar was ready for a bigger test, and there's few bigger than the Tigers.
If the kid was nervous, he certainly didn't show it.
"He says the one place in the world he's most relaxed is on the mound," Francona said, "and that's what it looks like."
NOTES: A former starter, Bonderman's win was his first in his 215th career appearance. ... Cabrera, who picked up his 100th RBI on Tuesday, is just the sixth player in history to reach 100 RBIs in 10 consecutive seasons. He joined an elite list that includes Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez, Al Simmons and Albert Pujols. He's also the second Tigers player to drive in at least 100 runs in six straight seasons, joining Harry Heilmann, who did it seven straight times from 1923-29. ... The Indians signed utilityman Ryan Raburn to a two-year, $4.85 million contract with a team option in 2016. Raburn could have tested the free agent market after this season, but the Indians locked him and may approach others for new deals, including starter Scott Kazmir. ... Tigers RHP Bruce Rondon unleashed several 103 mph fastballs in the eighth.
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