Shelley Duncan hit two two-run homers for the Indians, who carried a 4-2 lead into the seventh. But the Tigers scored five off three pitchers to take a 7-4 advantage in the seventh.
View full sizeTony Sipp shows the frustration of allowing a grand slam to Detroit's Victor Martinez in the seventh inning Wednesday at Progressive Field.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- First baseman Shelley Duncan hit not one, but two two-run homers off Justin Verlander in support of Justin Masterson.
The Indians still lost. It has been that kind of tumble out of AL Central contention for the Tribe.
Former Indian Victor Martinez capped a five-run seventh inning with a grand slam as Detroit rallied to win, 8-6, Wednesday afternoon at misty Progressive Field. Verlander, a lock for the American League Cy Young Award, won his 10th consecutive start to improve to 22-5 with a 2.44 ERA. He is the third Tiger since 1919 to win 10 straight starts.
The Tigers (81-62) followed a three-game home sweep of the White Sox with a three-game road sweep of Cleveland, effectively ending the division race before it really began. The Indians (70-70) are in third place, 9 1/2 games back. The White Sox entered a Wednesday night game against the Twins at 71-69, trailing by 8 1/2.
"They're doing a great job of running away from us," Indians manager Manny Acta said of Jim Leyland's crew.
On the morning of Aug. 19, the Tigers led the Indians by 1 1/2 games. They ignited their dash to the postseason by sweeping a three-game home series against Cleveland. Detroit has won seven in a row over the Tribe, its longest in-season streak in the series since notching a seven-bagger from April 28-July 24, 1984 -- a World Series championship year for the Tigers.
"They took care of business; obviously, we didn't," Acta said. "You can't give up, though. Things can change in a week."
Acta's comments after this particularly nasty defeat had an edge to them. From a manager whose club led the division by seven games on May 23, it was understandable. A reporter asked Acta about Martinez's performance in the series. All he did was go 5-for-13 with two dagger home runs and 10 RBI.
"I thought Shelley Duncan swung the bat really well," Acta said. "He hit two two-run homers and took advantage of his opportunities."
Point made. But just in case....
"You're in the wrong office," Acta said.
Duncan entered 2-for-11 against Verlander. It became 3-for-12, with a bullet, in the second inning. Carlos Santana led off with a four-pitch walk. Jim Thome laced a 2-2 fastball into right-center, where Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson ran it down. Jackson's difficult play made easy turned out to be big when Duncan stepped in.
Verlander's 0-1 curve bounced in front of catcher Alex Avila and skipped away, enabling Santana to move to second. The count eventually went to 2-2. Verlander threw a fastball down and in that Duncan redirected onto the home-run porch.
Verlander's second visit to the Dunc Tank came in the fourth. The Tigers had tied the score, 2-2, in the top of the inning. With two outs, Thome's bid for an eighth career homer off Verlander landed against the wall in left-center for a double. Duncan took a strike, then swung through one. Verlander had Duncan in a pitcher's jail, with any number of off-speed pitches available. Instead, Verlander challenged him with heat above the belt.
Duncan was unimpressed, ripping the ball over the left-field wall for his eighth homer.
"[Verlander] gets really bold when he throws his fastball," Duncan said.
Suddenly, Duncan is one of the game's hottest hitters. He finished 3-for-4 with three runs. Last Sunday at Kansas City, he hit two homers and drove in five in a 9-6 victory.
In 30 previous starts, Verlander gave up four-plus earned runs just four times.
Four runs, not matter how they score, should give hard-luck Masterson license to party. It did not happen Wednesday because of leaky defense and Martinez, who was traded to Boston on July 31, 2009, for Masterson and two other pitchers.
Jackson led off the seventh with a single. Will Rhymes grounded sharply to first, where Duncan mishandled the ball. Duncan's recovery flip was off-target enough that Masterson failed to find the bag. Andy Dirks' attempted sacrifice bunt was placed well on wet grass, and third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall did not get to it quickly for a hit.
Joe Smith relieved Masterson, and Miguel Cabrera lined an RBI single to left. Tony Sipp relieved Smith, but Martinez hammered Sipp's first pitch, an 89-mph fastball on the inner half at the knees, into the left-field bleachers. The switch-hitting Martinez owns two career slams -- both against the Indians.
Sipp has given up nine homers.
"Sipp is the only guy in our bullpen whom right-handed hitters and lefties hit below .200 against," Acta said. "The pitch just leaked over the plate. He missed his spot."
Masterson (11-9, 3.01 ERA) allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in six innings, walked three and struck out six. He threw 114 pitches.
"The guys worked hard to get the four runs, which is great," he said. "Unfortunately, a couple of infield hits were the undoing at the end. A couple of those little dinkers got us."
Acta was not as forgiving of his infielders.
"Usually, when we score that many runs with Masterson on the mound, we'll win," Acta said. "But in the seventh inning, our defense crumbled a little bit. We gave them five outs, and that's not a good thing against that lineup. It ended up costing us a game."
Chisenhall hit a two-run homer in the seventh. The Tigers scored an insurance run in the ninth for closer Jose Valverde (42 saves in 42 opportunities).
Verlander allowed four runs on three hits, walked two and struck out eight in six innings. He threw 113 pitches.
On Twitter: @dmansworldpd
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/09/cleveland_indians_lead_detroit_1.html
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