The Tigers continued their dominance over the Cleveland Indians this season as they beat them 9-6 Tuesday night from Comerica Park keeping home field in the ALDS within sight.

The Tigers continued swinging hot bats in this series by hammering off three runs in the first inning on RBI singles to center field by Delmon Young and Magglio Ordonez.

Wilson Betemit who returned to the lineup after going down with a knee injury hit a solo home run to right field the next inning while Delmon Young hit his second home run in as many games two innings later.

The Indians were able to get themselves back in the game after Jason Donald’s two-RBI single in the sixth. This ended up chasing Scherzer who finished his night going 5.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while walking 1 and striking out 7.

Miguel Cabrera continued his big season hitting his 30th home run of the season marking the seventh time in eight full major league seasons that Cabrera has hit 30-plus home runs. Cabrera’s two hits tonight also kept him in front of Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez and Texas’ Michael Young in the AL batting race.

Jose Valverde also picked up his 48th save in as many tries.

Cleveland AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Fukudome, RF 5 0 1 0 0 3 3 .264
Kipnis, 2B 5 0 1 0 0 2 1 .275
Santana, C, 1B 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 .240
Thome, DH 3 2 2 1 1 0 1 .257
1-Phelps, C, PR-DH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .155
Duncan, LF 5 0 1 1 0 2 3 .264
Chisenhall, 3B 5 1 2 1 0 2 2 .255
Donald, SS 3 0 1 2 1 1 2 .318
Carrera, CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .242
Marson, C 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .230
Totals 39 6 12 5 3 13 16 .251

1-Ran for Thome in the 7th.

Detroit AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Jackson, A, CF 4 1 1 0 1 2 0 .249
Betemit, 3B 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 .281
Inge, 3B 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .197
Young, D, LF 5 2 3 3 0 1 0 .269
Cabrera, Mi, 1B 5 2 2 1 0 1 1 .343
Martinez, V, DH 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 .326
Avila, C 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 .296
Ordonez, RF 3 0 2 3 0 0 1 .255
1-Santiago, PR-2B 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .263
Peralta, Jh, SS 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .299
Raburn, 2B-RF 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 .256
Totals 35 9 12 9 4 10 15 .276

1-Ran for Ordonez in the 5th.

BATTING
2B: Duncan (17, Scherzer), Santana, C (35, Coke), Thome (16, Coke), Phelps, C (2, Valverde).
TB: Fukudome; Kipnis; Santana, C 2; Thome 3; Phelps, C 2; Duncan 2; Chisenhall 2; Donald; Carrera; Marson.
RBI: Duncan (47), Donald 2 (8), Thome (50), Chisenhall (22).
2-out RBI: Duncan; Donald 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Chisenhall 2; Kipnis; Fukudome 2; Carrera.
Team RISP: 3-for-11.
Team LOB: 9.FIELDING
Pickoffs: Hagadone (Raburn at 1st base).

BATTING
2B: Cabrera, Mi (47, Gomez, J), Young, D (21, Gomez, J), Martinez, V 2 (40, Gomez, J, Durbin), Ordonez (10, Gomez, J), Raburn (22, Gomez, J).
HR: Betemit (8, 2nd inning off Gomez, J, 0 on, 2 out), Young, D (12, 4th inning off Gomez, J, 1 on, 2 out), Cabrera, Mi (30, 6th inning off Durbin, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Jackson, A; Betemit 4; Young, D 7; Cabrera, Mi 6; Martinez, V 4; Ordonez 3; Raburn 2.
RBI: Young, D 3 (64), Ordonez 3 (32), Betemit (46), Raburn (49), Cabrera, Mi (105).
2-out RBI: Ordonez 2; Betemit; Young, D 2; Raburn.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Peralta, Jh; Cabrera, Mi; Betemit; Santiago.
Team RISP: 4-for-12.
Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING
CS: Raburn (1, 2nd base by Hagadone/Marson).
PO: Raburn (1st base by Hagadone).

FIELDING
E: Raburn (17, fielding).
Outfield assists: Young, D (Donald at 1st base).
DP: (Young, D-Peralta, Jh-Cabrera, Mi).

Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Gomez, J(L, 5-3) 4.2 10 8 8 2 5 2 4.47
Durbin 0.2 2 1 1 1 2 1 5.53
Hagadone 1.2 0 0 0 1 2 0 4.09
Putnam 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.40
Totals 8.0 12 9 9 4 10 3 4.23
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Scherzer(W, 15-9) 5.2 7 4 4 2 7 0 4.43
Schlereth 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 0 3.49
Coke 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 0 4.47
Perry(H, 5) 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.25
Benoit(H, 29) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2.95
Valverde(S, 48) 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.27
Totals 9.0 12 6 6 3 13 0 4.04

WP: Scherzer 2.
HBP: Martinez, V (by Gomez, J).
Pitches-strikes: Gomez, J 87-53, Durbin 24-12, Hagadone 29-16, Putnam 7-6, Scherzer 109-65, Schlereth 22-13, Coke 16-11, Perry 10-6, Benoit 15-11, Valverde 11-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Gomez, J 6-1, Durbin 0-0, Hagadone 0-1, Putnam 1-1, Scherzer 5-4, Schlereth 0-0, Coke 1-1, Perry 2-0, Benoit 0-0, Valverde 0-0.
Batters faced: Gomez, J 27, Durbin 5, Hagadone 5, Putnam 3, Scherzer 25, Schlereth 3, Coke 5, Perry 2, Benoit 3, Valverde 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Durbin 1-0, Hagadone 1-0, Schlereth 1-0, Perry 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Tony Randazzo. 1B: Dan Bellino. 2B: Larry Vanover. 3B: Brian Gorman.
Weather: 61 degrees, rain.
Wind: 6 mph, In from LF.
T: 3:24 (:31 delay).
Att: 31,132.

Re: MLB.com, Detroit Free Press