Tigers 10, Indians 5
DETROIT -- Omar Infante homered twice and drove in five runs to carry the Detroit Tigers to a 10-5 victory over the slumping Cleveland Indians on Saturday at Comerica Park.
Infante hit a three-run homer in the second inning and a two-run shot in the sixth. Anibal Sanchez (12-7) gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings while striking out five to notch the victory.
Carlos Santana had an inside-the-park homer for Cleveland, which dropped its fifth straight and fell 8 1/2 games behind Detroit in the American League Central. The Tigers are 15-3 against the Indians this season
Infante's second homer, which came off reliever Bryan Shaw, bounced off the glove of left fielder Michael Brantley and caromed into the Indians' bullpen. Infante's eighth career multi-homer game put the Tigers on top 6-2.
Yan Gomes' solo homer in the sixth and Santana's two-run homer in the eighth made it 6-5. Centerfielder Austin Jackson collided with the wall trying to haul in Santana's long ball.
Jackson's two-run triple during a four-run eighth gave the Tigers some insurance.
Cleveland opened the scoring in the first when Santana drove in Michael Bourn with a two-out single to center field.
Infante's three-run homer off Indians starter Scott Kazmir highlighted Detroit's four-run second that gave it a 4-1 advantage. Infante smacked an 0-2 pitch into the left-field stands after Victor Martinez's leadoff single and Matt Tuiasosopo's walk. The Tigers tacked on another run with singles from Ramon Santiago, Jackson and Torii Hunter.
Bourn's RBI single in the fifth cut Cleveland's deficit to 4-2.
NOTES: Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, the major-league leader in batting average and RBI, sat out with an abdominal injury. Cabrera was forced to leave the team's last two games early with abdominal discomfort. Cabrera is listed as day-to-day and the team doesn't have plans to rest him for an extended period, even though he has been hobbled for weeks by abdominal, hip and groin injuries. "Our primary concern with Miguel Cabrera is making sure he's healthy," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "If the doc tells us he's going to be in a position where he'll get worse by playing, we will not play him. But nobody has ever said to us that shutting him down for an extended period will make him better." ... Detroit made moves to set up its postseason roster, recalling LHP Phil Coke and 2B Hernan Perez to make them eligible for the playoffs. Coke is 0-5 with a 5.00 ERA with Detroit this season, while Perez is batting .214 with five RBI. The Tigers optioned RHP Jeremy Bonderman to Triple-A Toledo and RHP Luke Putkonen to Single-A Lakeland but both will return to the majors by Tuesday. Bonderman was 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA since joining the Tigers in early August. Putkonen had a 1-1 record and 2.78 ERA. ... OF Jason Kubel, traded Friday from Arizona to Cleveland for a player to be named later, joined the club. Manager Terry Francona said it's likely Kubel will start on Sunday either as the DH or in the outfield. "The hope is he can help us," Francona said of Kubel, who hit .220 with five homers and 32 RBI with Diamondbacks this season. "This is a veteran guy who is one year removed from a lot of production."
