Carlos Guillen hit two of Detroit's three home
runs to help Rick Porcello and the Tigers defeat Cleveland 11-3 on
Wednesday night, the Indians' season-high 10th straight loss.
Porcello (14-9) allowed one run and six hits over five innings
as the Tigers won their third straight. Detroit entered play 2½
games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central. The Twins open a
four-game series in Detroit on Monday.
Guillen tied a season high with four RBIs. He hit a two-run
homer in the third off right-hander Justin Masterson (4-9) and
connected on the second pitch from left-hander Mike Gosling to make
it 9-1 in the fifth. It was the fourth time in his career the
switch-hitter went deep from both sides and his seventh multihomer
game overall.
Miguel Cabrera had a two-run homer, a 440-foot shot into the
bleachers in left-center in the fourth, for Detroit.
Porcello walked three and struck out one to go to 3-0 with a
1.80 ERA in four starts against Cleveland. The 20-year-old is the
youngest pitcher to go 3-0 in a season against the Indians since
Milt Pappas of Baltimore in 1958, also at age 20.
The Tigers got four straight hits and took advantage of a
throwing error by first baseman Andy Marte to take a 4-0 lead in
the first.
Cabrera drove in one run with a single and Aubrey Huff's RBI
double made it 2-0 with one out. Guillen then grounded to Marte,
who threw wildly trying to get Cabrera scoring from third. Brandon
Inge made it 4-0 with a groundout.
The Indians loaded the bases in the first two innings, but
scored only one run, on Travis Hafner's fielder's choice grounder
in the first. Hafner had an RBI groundout in the seventh against
Ryan Perry, and Luis Valbuena added an RBI double to make it 11-3.
Masterson dropped to 0-5 in six starts since beating the Los
Angeles Angels on Aug. 20. The right-hander gave up seven hits and
six earned runs over four innings. In his previous appearance
against Detroit, he struck out six over 3 2-3 innings of scoreless
relief on Aug. 1 in his Cleveland debut after being acquired from
Boston in the multiplayer trade that sent All-Star catcher Victor
Martinez to the Red Sox.
NOTES: Tigers LHP Jarrod Washburn had his swollen left knee
examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles, but a decision was not
made on what course of treatment will be taken. Wasbhurn, bothered
by the knee all season, left a Sept. 15 start against Kansas City
because of it. ... Indians 1B-OF Matt LaPorta is day-to-day with an
inflamed left hip. "He wants to play, but he's not going to do
much more than test it in batting practice," manager Eric Wedge
said. ... Tigers SS Adam Everett, in an 0-for-10 slide, didn't
start, but was a pinch-runner in the seventh and stayed in the
game, but did not bat. ... Indians 3B Johnny Peralta, in an
0-for-25 skid, didn't play.
