Sole possession of 1st place was on the line as the Indians and Tigers completed their 3-game series at Comerica Park. And the Tribe, after racing out to an early lead, saw its miserable road trip reach a frustrating conclusion.
In the top of the 1st, Michael Brantley laced a sharp grounder past a diving Miguel Cabrera and into the right field corner. Brantley, who runs well, had an easy triple, but the cut-off man, Ryan Raburn, decided to throw to 3rd base anyway. Raburn's ill-advised throw skipped out of play, allowing Brantley to score. Asdrubal Cabrera then stepped to the plate, doubled, and crossed home plate courtesy of Shin-Soo Choo's triple off the left-center wall.
That 2-0 cushion proved to be short-lived, to say the least. Mitch Talbot walked Austin Jackson to begin the bottom of the 1st, and it was all downhill from there. Detroit eventually tallied twice in the 1st, and the home team's fun was only beginning.
Jhonny Peralta and Raburn stroked back-to-back solo homers in the 4th, giving the Tigers a 4-2 advantage. The 2 long balls were carbon copies of each other as they both landed in the Detroit bullpen, which is located down the left field line.
A quartet of singles in the 5th plated 2 more runs and chased Talbot. Talbot failed to record a single out in the 5th, and the right-hander surrendered 6 tallies. Talbot's biggest problem was his command, or lack thereof.
Cleveland's offense fell asleep following the 1st frame, and the Indians dropped to 2-5 on the current road swing.
Max Scherzer, the winning pitcher, yielded those 2 runs in his 5 2/3 innings of work.
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| Asdrubal Cabrera and the Indians did not have much to cheer about on Thursday |
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