Tigers 5, Indians 1
CLEVELAND -- Red-hot Miguel Cabrera hit his fourth home run in the last two games and Max Scherzer allowed two hits in eight innings as the Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland 5-1 on Tuesday night at Progressive Field, snapping the Indians' five-game winning streak
Cleveland starter Corey Kluber held Detroit scoreless on three hits through the first five innings before the Tigers finally got to him in the sixth.
With the Indians leading 1-0, Andy Dirks led off the top of the sixth by hitting a home run into the right field seats, his fifth of the season. Torii Hunter followed with a double off the right field wall.
With first base open, the Indians elected to pitch to Cabrera, and the reigning American League Most Valuable Player turned that into a bad decision by belting an 0-1 pitch from Kluber over the center field wall, giving Detroit a 3-1 lead.
Cabrera, who hit three home runs in Texas on Sunday, now has 12 homers, tying him for the league lead. He increased his league-leading RBI total to 49.
Detroit added two insurance runs in the ninth against the Cleveland bullpen.
Scherzer gave up two singles in the first inning and then held Cleveland hitless and scoreless through the eighth. He retired the last 22 batters he faced in a row and was removed from the game after the eighth inning.
The Indians' only hits off Scherzer were singles by Michael Bourn and Asdrubal Cabrera in the first inning. Scherzer (6-0) struck out seven and walked one. Kluber, whose record fell to 3-3, pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs and eight hits with a career-high eight strikeouts and no walks.
The Indians have outscored their opponents 36-19 in the first inning this season and they took a 1-0 in the first against Detroit starter Max Scherzer.
Bourn, who came into the game 1 for 11 in his career against Scherzer, singled to start the bottom of the first. One out later, Cabrera singled, sending Bourn to third. Michael Brantley followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Bourn and giving the Indians a 1-0 lead.
Kluber was very sharp in the early innings. He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. Victor Martinez, who singled in the second, was the only base runner allowed by Kluber in the first four innings, and he held the Tigers scoreless on three hits through five.
NOTES: Indians first baseman Nick Swisher was placed on the paternity list prior to the game. Swisher has left the team to be with wife JoAnna, who gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl, on Tuesday. ... Infielder Cord Phelps was recalled from Class AAA Columbus to replace Swisher on the roster. ... Prior to the game, the Tigers recalled pitcher Luke Putkonen from Class AAA Toledo, where he was 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA.
